Forty Weeks
by Hannanball13
Summary: "I cannot be blamed if I smack someone across the mouth today, Marshall!", Mary and Marshall are engaged and, yes, like deja vu, Mary is pregnant again... Forty weeks of this? If Marshall came out of this pregnancy alive, it would be a surprise to everyone. Alternate Universe! Stan is still the Chief! James didn't reappear!
1. 12 Weeks

(New Reader Friendly-Double awesome secret parallel universe fiction! Kind of a continuation of Where Does This Leave Us? Please Enjoy, I have fun with these! Reviews are awesome! And so are alerts!)

_**12 Weeks**_

"No seriously Marshall, drive slower! It's not like my bladder isn't on the verge of exploding or anything! God damn it! I could kill you! If you don't wipe that goofy grin off of your face I'll-

"Pee on me?" he snickered, pressing on the gas pedal, using his right arm to defend himself from her clawing. This was no unusual occurrence; Marshall could now locate every rest stop in Albuquerque, unfortunately for Mary, although he felt obligated to find the nearest establishment with running water and indoor plumbing in the middle of nowhere, there wouldn't be any for miles at least. He hesitated to admit it as he caught the reflection of the engagement ring he had placed on her finger (about four months ago) off the dash of their Marshal issued vehicle.

It was quite possibly the most inconvenient time for nature to call, driving on what could possibly be the bumpiest road in New Mexico, the wind blowing dust at the windshield and not even a tree or hint of shrubbery in sight. Poor Mary. Marshall shook his head, pitying the woman in the passenger seat; he practically didn't have the heart to tell her she would yet again be squatting behind the SUV with a fistful of fast food napkins.

"I'm not even kidding Doofus, if you don't get me somewhere in like five minutes I'll find some way to convince Stan _you're _the reason this car smells like urine!"

"Mare…"

"No, don't you 'Mare' me! I know what that means! I am not copping a squat near the tire of this car _again _nuh uh no freakin way, you find me a toilet right now! _Right NOW!_"

"You should have gone before we left!"

"I did! And I even had time to call Mark! Norah's fine, if you were wondering!" she added.

"Of course Norah's fine, she's with her father! Do you want me to pull over or not!"

Mary pouted for maybe twenty seconds, threatening to 'just pee' only once before she folded immediately after Marshall slowly unscrewed the cap of his water to gulp loudly at the liquid until his partner had to give in.

"Pull the God damn car over! But just remember Marshall, every time you make me pee in the desert, I strike one of your favorite names off of our baby list!"

"Sure sure!" he called as she slammed the door, but he couldn't help but smirk as she grumbled all the way around the car, he wiped the grime from the console, his ears twitching as her jeans made a loud unzipping noise and her boots squeaked obnoxiously as she lowered herself to the ground. He suddenly felt sympathetic, not that he hadn't before, but Mary's first choice of attire was first and foremost a pair of jeans and of course the signature Mary Shannon wife beater, but the pregnant Mary Shannon, fought tooth and nail each morning with leggings and maternity bottoms, never reaching her normal style, never being truly satisfied with her outfits. He felt silly as he shook the somewhat entertaining thought from his brain, knowing he would soon have to cross that bridge and it would just be another reason for her to pretend to resent him. He tapped his thumbs on the wheel of the car, peeking out the rearview accidentally, praying Mary hadn't caught him and get a chance to accuse him of having some sort of urine fetish to top off the supposed pregnancy one she had decided he had a short while ago. He found once his heart jumped back down into his chest and continued in a more steady rhythmic fashion she must not have seen him, or was too busy trying not to pee on her favorite trousers.

She came back around five long minutes after as Marshall just completed whistling the Star Wars theme song and had begun a tune of his own,

"You know, twenty three years ago, when my psycho bio teacher stood up in front of the class babbling about how much the uterus expands during the first trimester, she proceeded to go on to say, 'God couldn't possibly exist, because even a man wouldn't be stupid enough to put the bladder in such a close proximity to the ever expanding uterus' Now, that was coming from a woman who wore a cross around her neck and gabbed about her church benefits…"

"Your point?" Marshall raised his eyebrows, expecting a snarky conclusion to the story.

"I would love to say the hypocritical schizo had a point, but all it really proves is God most definitely _doesn't _have a vagina."

He chuckled, somewhat thrown by the lack of sarcasm or satire dripping from her tone, but mostly at the poor ending to what could have been a chart topper on the ongoing page of 'Mary's most snarkiest' list.

"Is this _my_ Mary?" he questioned as the car jolted from park to drive and Marshall turned the wheel back toward the dirt road.

"What do you mean?" she asked, acting somewhat offended, snorting a bit as she picked at some dead skin on her fingernail.

"_My_ Mary wouldn't let her plum sized womb get in the way of her spunk, _my_ Mary would work through the relentless cries from her bladder and find some way to cope with the constant urge to relieve herself.." Even he wasn't quite sure if he was joking or not, her reaction would have to be his deciding factor.

"I think you have to remember who you're talking to doofus, take a good long look at me, because by next month the constant battle with spanks will begin, my toes will start to disappear from my sight, my ankles will swell up and throb to no end, sneezing will become one of the most painful endeavors of the day, walking across the room will be a chore, I'll always be sweaty no matter how high you crank up the AC, I'll be able to smell _everything_ and I mean _everything_- that bottle of scope you're carrying will no longer be a match for the kind of scary, super lady senses I'll be stuck with. Got it sling blade? So if stopping every twenty minutes because the pregnant lady has to pee is a burden to you, I hate to tell you, but oh well! You got me into this mess Marshall, that thirty two weeks I was housing Norah was child's play for you, this is the real deal, whether you like it or not, this hormonal, cranky, in constant need of a rest stop Mary is who you'll be living and working with night and day for the next twenty eight weeks of your life. Get used to it." She crossed her arms, adamant as usual, looking straight ahead, into the distance from behind her aviators.

He looked over at his partner, her chest rose up and down slowly, but angrily. Her jaw so tight, it was obvious she was doing her best to hide that her bottom lip was in the beginning stages of quivering and if she had to say anything more before a reassuring statement from Marshall, tears would be falling.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled, amazed at how quickly her pouting ceased after that, pleased he handled that situation so well.

Twenty Eight more weeks of this? Would it be educational? _Most definitely_. Would it be worth it? _No doubt_. Would it be a cakewalk?- _Absolutely not_- after all, this was Mary he was talking about.

_(What do you think?) _


	2. 14 Weeks

_(Enjoy this update friends! It was fun to write, I hope it is just as fun to read! Reviews and Alerts are always appreciated! Love to hear what you have to say ) –Hannanball13_

_14 weeks_

"I cannot be blamed if I smack someone across the mouth today Marshall!" Mary remarked as she slid on her boots.

"May I ask why?" he questioned curiously, putting a fresh diaper on Norah and then covering her bare legs with her jeans from baby Gap.

"Do I have to have a reason?" she snorted, standing up, wiggling in place, settling into her shoes.

"Any other time, no, but when you are threatening to cause physical or bodily harm to another person, I am obligated to intervene." Marshall replied, speaking slowly and calmly, adjusting his tone as not to be overly sarcastic or too shrill as not to upset Mary this morning. He had learned, (quickly) in the past two weeks, if the first words she spoke to him were ones other than "Good Morning Doofus" the day was going to be tricky. It just so happened this morning began with, "If you blow your morning breath my way one more time, you're sleeping on the sofa!" So he was taking extra special care to step around most anything she said.

"You're not my keeper." She spat, exiting the bedroom. Marshall heard the bathroom door slam for the fourth time this morning. But not until two slams ago did Norah wake up, fussy and wet. He tried to hand the baby off to Mary whenever possible, it seemed when she was holding their child she didn't spread her satire around nearly as much.

"Hey Mare!" He called, taking Norah into his arms and grabbing his jacket from their neatly made bed.

"What?" Mary yelled over the toilet flushing, "Want breakfast?" he asked, waiting for her response, his heart skipping a beat because it was taking so long,

"Ew, no! I can't even think of eggs right now!" Gagging noises could be heard from the opposite side of the door, causing Marshall to feel guilty over his silly slip up, then she appeared, her eyes watery, but no signs of her actually throwing up. Morning crisis averted. If she threw up, there was no making it to work on time and today it was especially important, Mary had a meeting with an attorney dealing with one of her witnesses' cases and Stan was adamant that she be on time this morning, he didn't like dealing with cranky lawyers. Although, today he might rather, because Mary was in a mood so incredibly fragile, she was a ticking time bomb. It was only a matter of time before she did, in fact, 'smack someone in the mouth' and he knew that.

She looked at him, running her fingers through the few curls Norah had,

"Gonna make it Doofus?" she inquired, as if he were the one with the blood shot eyes who had just stopped himself from tossing his cookies.

"Oh.. yeah- we have to get going, the baby sitter is here already." He said, snapping out of his thoughts and getting back to tip toeing around his fiancé.

"Fine." She said, taking Norah from Marshall's arms. She still didn't like the whole babysitter thing, and they had to install nanny cams hours after they informed the lady she got the job, but if that's what it took for his hormonal Mary to have her piece of mind, he guessed it wasn't so bad. She was prompt, never rude, and kept her collected demeanor when Mary was at her most satanic. And lately, that was all of the time. That was a bonus, the fact that she even met the list of ridiculous and specific requirements on the list of criteria Mary had conjured up was a feat in and of itself and just for that, she was hired.

"I love you Bug!" she squealed, planting a kiss on the top of their daughters forehead and then handed her back over to Marshall, to give him a fair amount of time for his daily goodbye, while she did a once over of the babysitters to-do list like routine.

"All right mini-Mare, Daddy and Mommy are going to work, I love you!" he cooed, placing her in her play pen, propped up on a pillow. Not that Norah was unsteady, but if Mary caught him allowing her to sit minus the support of something, he would be the one getting smacked today.

He fidgeted, looking at his phone for the time, it was okay to run two or three minutes behind, but they were running a little over four and he wasn't sure if a tense ride to the sunshine building was something he felt like dealing with this morning, otherwise he wouldn't have let Mary finish explaining (for the umpteenth time) the proper length and width of that Norah's banana pieces had to be cut up into.

"Okie dokie Mare, we really have to hit the road… We might even have time to stop at your favorite bakery, get you some of that pie you love….." he lied, tugging on the sleeve of her leather jacket, which she had been wearing every day and probably planned on wearing until she didn't fit into it anymore. Not to his surprise, she hesitated; reminding the poor woman once more what time Norah should be fed and then flung her bag over her shoulder. Without another word she led him out the door, Marshall opened the passenger's side door of his car like he did every morning, and she hopped in, no "thank you" was said. Once he was settled into the driver's seat, with his seat belt buckled and he had adjusted the steering wheel from when Mary had driven he asked the same question she had left unanswered.

"Do you want to pick up some pie before we head over?" Marshall inquired innocently.

"Jesus Christ, no pie, don't mention pie! Yesterday, I was watching T.V and a Martha Stewart Baking Special sent me on a gagging spree for twenty minutes… I have to face it, this kid is a pie hating, pacifist and I bet he'll be a kicker… With really good aim. That will be just my luck!"

He shook his head without realizing, accidentally displaying how exasperated he was becoming, and to his amazement Mary didn't catch him… Or chose not to. It didn't really matter as long as he hadn't gotten scolded.

"No pie. Check." He whispered under his breath as Mary continued one of her car ride rants, they were similar to F.D.R's fireside chats really. With less finesse, more complaining and mostly disheartening, actually they were absolutely nothing like them… He didn't even have a historical connection to expand on this morning; he would just have to find another inconspicuous way to block out her complaints today.

A few "reallys" a bunch of "yeahs" and two "you've got a point theres" and Marshall had survived yet another morning commute with his raging hormonal fiancé. It was truly an accomplishment when his dress shoes hit the pavement of the parking garage and he was free from her grasp… He could breathe a sigh of relief, well just not near Mary. It seemed no matter what he did he couldn't shake his supposed "dragon breath". He would have to invest in five or six months' worth of packs of extra, especially if he wanted to sleep in his bed for the rest of this pregnancy.

When they entered the WITSEC office, Marshall should have just tag teamed with his partner, he should have just taken her witness that day for the consult, but it was too late, Mary was already shuffling through paper work, and prepping for the meeting. He was too slow, he wiped his sweaty palms on his dress pants, suddenly his mouth was dry, and his heart started thumping loudly in his ear drums. Zeitland…

It was no secret Mary didn't like him, none whatsoever, she had once even gone as far as comparing him to herpes. He just never thought… Of all people to be on this case. Marshall thought that he was too pompous to deal with cases only prosecuting low grade mobsters, but apparently not. He had managed to keep her from boiling over and he had been successful. Now, how was he supposed to control her brash quipping Armageddon when he couldn't be in the same room? He strode over to Mary, who was nibbling on one of Delia's specialty muffins. Confused how she could eat muffins if she couldn't stomach the thought of pie, he forgot to choose his words carefully.

"Okay Mare, before you go in there, I want you to take a deep breath, like the deepest breath you've ever taken…" Marshall began.

"Oh shut your hole, I'm not a toddler, I can handle myself!" she snapped, disappearing into the conference room, leaving her partner shaking with fear each time her mouth moved. Desperately he tried to piece together possible words she was saying each time her jaw unhinged. He did his best to look inconspicuously between the cracks of the shades, but Mary being rather sharp now that the cool air conditioned atmosphere of the office had truly woken her up, shut them completely, leaving Marshall utterly helpless, only being able to _hope _she wouldn't slip up.

He tapped on the keyboard of his computer, scribbled on some paperwork and made a cup of coffee before he heard a loud slam, and Stan came rushing from his office. Marshall stood up, his eyes wide, anxious to see what was happening behind the shade covered glass windows.

Mary exited the room wiping her mouth a few moments later, then Stan, Zeitland following, who was covering a bright red cheek with his hand. Gingerly he rubbed at his face, eying Mary with frustration.

"What did you do?" Marshall asked, not bothering to soften his tone, somewhat angry,

"I may have smacked Zeitland across his conniving, venom spewing mouth…" she remarked, clearing her throat, remaining expressionless as she scanned through her email.

"Mary!" he scolded, looking over at Stan who was probably discussing how to keep the incident on the down low.

Marshall rolled his eyes,

"I didn't think you were serious when you said you were going to smack someone today Mary, even so, I thought you would at least have a little sense not to target a federal prosecutor!" he continued.

Before she could find some brusque or brash things to defend herself with, Stan came from his chat with Zeitland.

"You got lucky this time Inspector, we've worked out a deal…."

Why Marshall was thinking about a cash deal, he couldn't figure out, but what Stan said next surely lightened his mood,

"Fred asks you not to tell anyone of this _incident _and he will make sure to keep his mouth shut about you immediately spewing muffin chunks all over the conference table, can I tell him we have a deal? Or do you want me to confiscate your gun for a few days Inspector?" Stan questioned in his authoritative father figure tone.

Marshall chuckled loudly, until Mary eyed him with a look that could kill,

"I told you this damn kid was a freakin pacifist." She replied, slamming one of her desk drawers, "But just so we're clear, that scum bag totally had it coming."

Her partner shook his head one more time, making it clear he wasn't approving of her action no matter what she said, and went over to apologize to the exacerbated lawyer, after all, she did give him fair warning this morning. He had to remember Mary always followed through on most everything she said. She said she was going to _smack someone in the mouth_, well she had done just that, Mary _had smacked_ Zeitland… Right in his mouth. Why was he even surprised?


	3. 16 Weeks

_16 Weeks_

_(Please enjoy readers, thanks for the reviews and comments LOVE IT! Enjoy this update, hope you like it, I went out on a limb;D ) _

"MARSHALL!" the exasperated or frantic, not that he could really tell over Norah's adorable babbling, came from the bathroom of their home.

"Mare?" he called softly, trying to turn the handle to their powder room. "Unlock the door, what's wrong?" he asked, jiggling the handle frantically, although he knew very well that no matter how wildly he flailed the knob it wouldn't open without some cooperation from the person on the other side.

Once he felt the resistance of her nimble fingers attempting to open the door from her side, he stopped, and with a reassuring pop, the door was open and Mary's red face was staring back at him.

"What's the matter?" he repeated, trying to coax her to answer with gesticulations and facial expressions.

"I just…."

He looked her over,

"You just what?" he urged, his tone at this exact moment was something she'd probably give him hell for later.

"I can't hook my bra doofus!" she yelled, at the top of her lungs, making him flinch as she presented her unsupported breasts to him.

"Oh." He didn't know what to say, how to react, what he should do.

"What the hell did you expect me to need?" she asked, her sparky, brashness returning when she got over the initial embarrassment of having to admit something that caused her so much chagrin.

"Well, I don't know. In my experience those who call for help in a rest area or any facility where they're potentially indisposed, the problem is usually not as simple or fixable as yours has turned out to be…" he replied, hoping the words he had chosen were proper enough not to send her to tears or make her angry.

"Just hook me up!" she ordered, no desire for an awkward silence between them.

He gently pushed her hair from her back over the tops of both of her shoulders, he had unhooked her bra plenty of times now, but hooking was a whole different story…

"I can't seem to…"

"What!"

"I think this undergarment is much too small for you Mare, it doesn't seem to fit…" he struggled for a few more second with the female contraption, successfully hooking it after several tries. As he examined the final result, he couldn't help but feel some pity for his fiancé, the bra was most definitely cutting some circulation off in her upper back.

"Thanks Doof-for-brains."

He turned to leave, but stopped just as Mary began to scrub away at her pearly whites with hot water from the bathroom sink,

"I'm sorry Mare, but did you choose not to wear one of those err- at work?" he shook his head.

She huffed, spat, and slammed her toothbrush down so hard it clattered into the basin to join her saliva,

"I did in fact wear a _bra_ today Inspector Mann, it's not a taboo thing to say, every woman wears one, your mother wears a bra, my mother wears a bra! Get over it! And for your information, I took it off when we got home, because these are not the easiest things to lug around with you all day when there's an underwire digging into your sides and your job requires some form of movement! They hurt, now go comb your God damn hair or feed Norah a banana or something!" she pointed out the door, but he did not leave,

"Engorged breasts are a normal-

"I know they're normal! I know you know they're normal, it's not gonna change how I feel about my instant double D's! Jesus Christ!"

He smirked, trying to hide the hurt. He chose to walk away that time, like he should have before. She got this way right before their very first appointment with Dr. Reese, it was only expected she get this way for this check-up as well. Marshall had been reading up, Mary shouldn't be so moody in a few more months which was relieving to say the least. Although, the frequent rest stopping would become much more frequent, and the already anxious Mary would become much more anxious, Marshall sighed, he had to pick his battles. He could handle that he supposed, what he couldn't handle was the venom she spat at him when he was least deserving, she was more than aware this was a ten minute check- up, she'd pee in a cup, get some blood drawn and with any luck see the babies heartbeat, which was what Marshall was looking forward to the most and what could possibly be putting Mary on the edge.

Checkpoint moments always sent her reeling, the first appointment she kept crinkling the paper to annoy him, and he knew all too well it was her only way of soothing herself. She obnoxiously played with equipment hanging from the walls, shined the examination light in Marshall's eyes, all as a way of relaxation. She had been scared, she later admitted that she feared Dr. Reese would come bearing the news that Mary was not pregnant, but actually missing that enzyme that gave women false positives on pee sticks.

This time, Marshall could only assume, her worry would be that they would find no heartbeat.

He shook the thought away, there was no sense worrying about something he hadn't been before, he also made a mental note to ask Dr. Reese about any combatants for her sore breasts.

"Mary, I'm going to hook Norah into her infant carrier and wait in the car!" he called, grabbing the bouncing baby girl and holding her in a tight hug, laying a kiss on the top of her tiny forehead, making her giggle with joy. Her toes wiggled in her socks, and her little hands explored the fabric of Marshall's jacket, until she found a satisfying spot to lay her head. Marshall smiled at the familiar feeling of her chubby cheek pressed against his shoulder, suddenly feeling invincible to the world. He loved that little girl with all of his heart, and couldn't imagine loving another tiny human more, but Marshal Mann was confident he wouldn't have a problem. Norah was his daughter, even if he had to share her with Mark at times. He already felt an undeniable connection with the child who had set up shop in his fiancés uterus, no doubt, but he knew he would never love his child or Norah more, that was impossible.

Marshall placed Norah into her car seat, and she gurgled with glee realizing a car ride was in the near future. She loved the car, and Mary didn't know, but sometimes he would take her when she was fussiest, for a long, soothing drive through the suburbs, where she would always fall asleep.

Mary locked the door behind her, and then made her way to the car as Marshall finished buckling Norah into place.

She smirked at him as he offered the open passengers side for his so to be wife mother of his children and for the first time, in what seemed like forever she accepted the chivalry with a "Thank You."

The drive was short, and surprisingly the wait as well. It seemed like there was no time at all passing from Mary's voiced appreciation to her antsy fiddling with Norah's developing locks of hair. Of course Dr. Reese gushed over the "cutie patootie" baby girl before anything medial actually occurred. The next thing he knew, he was being mesmerized by the loud,

"THWUMP, THWUMP, THWUMP…" of his baby's heartbeat rapid and rhythmic in his nearly non-existent chest. He was disappointed as Dr. Reese found it necessary to put away the ultra sound machine, before the woman made eye contact she grinned, "Strong heartbeat."

Suddenly, the room was less tense, Mary's fear clearly melting from her face, she let the tiniest smile form on her lips, unable to forget the contempt she felt for anything hospital.

"Now Mary, any questions or concerns?"

As the Doctor asked, Marshall nearly spoke, but Mary had started to fiddle with her bra, the way she had been doing for most of the day. Supposedly untwisting it, but he knew better, he couldn't imagine the pairing of rubber and wire digging into the soft delicate flesh on Mary's back and around her swollen chest.

"The prenatal engorgement…." began.. "Nothing to be ashamed of, try to do without your bra when you're home, wear loose shirts, go out on a limb and wear your old nursing garments from Norah…"

"You don't think I've tried that?" she asked. "I can't escape the constant feeling that my boobs are about to explode from excessive milk making, I feel like a cow for crying out loud- in more ways than one…" she added.

"There's always ridding clothes all together."

"I beg your pardon?" Mary questioned disgust in her tone and disbelief in her expression.

"Sleep without your top. If you're not comfortable with that, wear a button up and simply leave it unbuttoned…"

"Are you nuts?"

"I gave you a wild card… Believe me if you're truly desperate you'll take my advice. Or you can suffer through it… Whatever you prefer." She winked, "You can go when you're ready, I'll see you in a month!" she exited.

Marshall was speechless for the second time today, but knew better than to bring any of what was said up on the way home.

Norah went down easy, a little rocking with Mommy, some Daddy Marshall Time, and poof, out like a light. He loved this Dad stuff. He also loved what the evening brought him, quality time with Norah, and snuggling up with Mary. Every night he had inched closer, trying not to push himself on her too quickly, now every now and then he would awake, Mary curled around him, using his long, bony torso as a body pillow. He didn't mind.

Mary made him brush his teeth and rinse with scope countless times a day lately. He didn't mind.

Sometimes she would fall asleep in his arms on the couch when they were watching the television. He didn't mind.

He didn't mind a lot of things she did, he didn't mind her brash attitude, her quips, her muses, her catches and quirks. He didn't mind her anti-social behaviors and her controlling mind set. He was used to it all.

He pulled the blankets over his body, expecting the feeling of the familiarity of the sheets which welcomed rest.

Tonight however, he got under the covers, cuddled close to her, careful to avoid her chest at all costs; he wrapped his lengthy arm around her waist. After a few moments, he opened his eyes which had managed to flutter shut,

"Mare?"

"What?"

"Are you?" he inquired, his voice high and pitchy, unsure of how to react.

Underneath the covers, he could plainly feel her soft skin, the beginnings of a bump forming under his fingertips. Usually greeted by the soft feel of a long t-shirt or satin PJ's he recoiled for a split second, only to return his hand to where it had been. He felt around, without making it seems as if he were just groping.

She was naked.

"I was desperate." She answered with a yawn, rolling over to face him, wrapping her muscular arms around his chest and settling her soft blonde mess of hair onto the only part where his undershirt didn't cover.

He grinned from ear to ear.

He didn't mind.


	4. 18 Weeks

18 weeks

"You have got to be freaking kidding me!"

"What? Mare?" Marshall asked turning onto his side, glancing at the clock to see 3:00 a.m glowing in the darkness.

"I am eighteen weeks along right?"

"Uhh, give or take a week or two, why is this relevant at three in the morning?…" he rubbed his eyes, attempting to make the blur of her silhouette clearer in the blackness. He put his hand on her side, as if to reassure himself that he was not dreaming.

"How is _it_ doing that?" she growled, turning onto her side to face him, to reveal her expression of exasperation, tiredness eluding her emerald green eyes, a yawn fighting out of her mouth. Marshall had been trying to get her to take naps, in the car, when they had down time in the WITSEC office.. but who was he kidding? This was Mary. But she had to realize, he hadn't been there for the evenings of exhaustion when she was carrying Norah, he hadn't been there to coax her to crawl into bed to catch a few winks. He had figured she would know better, she knew the sleepless nights that were ahead, she knew how difficult it would be to find a comfortable position as her abdomen expanded in the next few months, but like Marshall should have known, she would remain oblivious to such realizations until the dark haired, green-brown eyed baby stared back at her.

He cringed at the phrase "it" penetrating her vocabulary in reference to _their _child, feeling slightly insulted, but blamed it on the earliness, as patient as he was, he was still human.

"I'm not sure I understand." He stated, stretching his legs just so that his toes poked out from the end of the blanket they were sharing.

"Just forget it, it's impossible." She said, switching to her other side, "Stop breathing down my neck!" Mary snapped before her fiancé had the chance to adjust himself so he was not, in fact, breathing down her neck.

"As you wish." He sighed, scooting upward so his ice cold toes felt the warm of the blanket again.

He sipped at his coffee, scanning the front page of the newspaper, not actually reading, he found it was difficult to focus on anything with a giggling, bouncing baby girl only feet away.

"What's my Mini- Mare doing?" he cooed, crouching down to run his thumb through her locks of golden hair, admiring the sparkle in her eyes that matched her mothers.

"I better not hear you referring to my daughter with that horrible nick name again!" Mary scolded, unscrewing the cap of her bottle of water, slurping from the top so it wouldn't spill from the top. She dropped a large magenta colored tablet onto her tongue, gulping at the liquid so the enormous prenatal vitamin would slide down her throat.

"I think it's adorable." He grinned, his eyes twinkling with delight as Norah babbled through the bubbles she was blowing with her own drool.

"Well stop it. She's not me. She looks nothing like me." She lied; setting her drink on the coffee table, Mary then plopped down on the sofa, using all three of the cushions to sprawl out.

Marshall grasped his mug more firmly, pecking the top of Norah's forehead as he passed her by while she bounced in her bouncy chair,

"So what hall we do on this beautiful Saturday morning… Walk in the park? Picnic in the back yard?-

"Yeah doofus, I think I'm gonna skip out on the stereotypical Albuquerque family bull and go out on a limb- let's stay in today and rent a movie on cable or something. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course, I just thought we could take advantage of the gorgeous weather, but if you would prefer we buy a movie off of the on demand channel I have no problem with that…"

She laid still, silent for a moment. Her expression quizzical, causing Marshall to feel a tad distressed,

"Mary, what's the problem?" he asked, sitting down beside her water bottle to look her more closely in the eye.

"Nothing…. GOD DAMN IT!" she shouted, sitting up, her eyes wide and frustrated.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked, matching her tone, trying to get a straight answer out of his seemingly cryptic bride to be.

"I FEEL BUTTERFLIES!"

"What are you talking about?" he questioned, his eyebrows rose near the middle of his forehead.

"The KID taking up shop in my uterus if _moving_!"

"Oh…" Marshall chuckled in relief, something he had been doing a lot lately.

"It's impossible, the thing's like a size of a potato! There is no way in hell this kid can be taunting me with kicking and punching and hiccupping!"

"Yeah Mare, you're absolutely correct, although our child may be the size of said vegetable, this is your_ second_ pregnancy…" he took a sip of his coffee, leaving Mary staring back at him, awaiting his continuation, her eyes digging into his like daggers as he enjoyed the caffeine touching the tips of his tongue and down his throat.

"_Go on_!" she screeched.

"After your first pregnancy, your uterus sometime becomes more- er, somewhat more sensitive to the movement of a fetus, only because you have experienced the twisting and the rolling before. Norah has made you familiar with such developments, so it's only natural you recognize them already." He replied. "Are you angry? Mare this is a vital ripening of our child."

"Okay, first off Marshall, our kid is not a fruit, it doesn't 'ripen' second, how in the hell did you know that?"

"I took biology in college, it just so happens most of it stuck… I apologize for my choice in terminology, It won't happen again." He added before gulping down yet another mouthful of java.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, her nose scrunching as the feelings in her stomach continued, "Of course your child is a freakin prodigy." She snarled.

Marshall smirked, lifting her feet so he could take a seat right beside her,

"Oh quit complaining, it would freak you out more if our baby decided to remain completely still for the next ten weeks." He teased, rubbing her leg, running his fingertips across the heel of her right foot to her toes.

"You certainly know how to shut me up doofus.." she quivered, her eyes fluttering shut.

"Well if we're gonna stay in, I should at least treat to you to a foot rub." He countered.

She opened one of her eyes to look at Marshall, eying him in a peculiar way,

"You're not just massaging my feet so when this little tyke really starts going to town in my womb you get to have your paws all over me are you?"

"No.." he smiled innocently.

"Seriously doofus, couch up the catch before we go any further, my feet are swollen as hell, but a foot rubs not worth you dragging your mitts all across my stomach in a month's time!"

"If it can't be just because I have an endearing love for you Mare, I'm sure I can think something up." Marshall beamed, brushing her hair from her face.

"So what's it gonna be?" she demanded, chewing on her bottom lip, contemplating whether it would be worth the touching in the next few weeks.

"I would prefer it if you…"

"If I what?"

"If you didn't call our baby an _'it'_. It just irks me…" he admitted, running his lanky fingers through his brown locks, fidgeting around to make sure Norah was still content in her bouncy chair as he waited for Mary to think his request over. He looked back, expecting a burdened Mary to be staring back at him, but her expression was soft and understanding. "It would really mean a lot." He added.

"If that's what you want…. I guess it's…. Fine- deal. Now get on with my foot rub."

It was a start.

_(I hope you enjoyed this chapter, maybe a little less humorous than the rest, but I covered a topic that's believable for week 18 of pregnancy. Hope you enjoy, I love your reviews! Thanks to all the readers who have taken the time to favorite, and alert both me and this story!)_


	5. 20 Weeks

20 weeks.

"Hey Mare, you okay in there?" He held Norah in his arms, reassuring the babe with a nod even though he was well aware she wouldn't understand either way. She happily sucked on her fist, grasping Marshall's partially unbuttoned collared shirt as if she feared he was going to drop her. He adjust Norah on his hip, yelling just barely a foot away from the bathroom door again, something he had been doing a lot lately. Mary didn't particularly appreciate it, but there was a special kind of fear that struck his heart when Mary remained in any rest area or facility for any extended period of time. Although, he was never actually sure what she could be doing to cause harm to herself in that specific area of the household, but never the less, he felt a certain obligation to keep tabs on his partner at all times. Again, Mary didn't appreciate this.

She opened the door, her hand covering her upper lip,

"I have a God Damn mustache." She mumbled the words muffled under the cover of her long fingers.

He looked at her; comprehension of anything that came from Mary's mouth was at the bottom of his list lately. He guessed he understood, but wasn't entirely sure how he should be reacting, the silence consumed him; he knew he had some sort of factoid to counter the somewhat ridiculous declaration, but he couldn't find any in the crazy mess his brain had suddenly become.

Marshall raised his entire brow, Norah touched a drool soaked hand to his cheek, but even as she removed it to reveal a gooey mess upon his face, his eye contact didn't break with his fiancé, who still had her hand covering her upper lip, now reduced to tears.

"Excuse me?" he shook his head.

"I have a MUSTACHE!" she sobbed.

"Mare, no- no y- you don't, take your hand away from there, you don't have a mustache." He replied, grabbing her wrist and gently placing it at her side, "Oh Mary, that's not, that hardly qualifies as facial hair…" he tried soothing.

"Oh yeah? So it's just a freakin coincidence that hair is trailing my upper lip!"

"It is perfectly common, _especially _in week twenty of pregnancy to experience some hormonal difficulties that cause you to- you know…" Marshall trailed off, rubbing his neck, no longer able to look at the teary eyed Mary, unaware of any way to console her.

"Marshall! It's a better handle bar than my father could have grown!" she shouted, causing Norah to squirm in Marshall's arms, whines escaping her mouth, Mary's eyes flickered with annoyance, but she recoiled quickly,

"Oh Bug, come here." She groaned, reaching her arms out, her daughter accepted the embrace willingly, snuggling into her chest. "I wasn't yelling at you Sweet Pea." She whispered, kissing the top of her strands of blonde hair.

"Mary, it's barely noticeable…"

"Don't give me that 'barely noticeable' BS, I saw it with my own two eyes, unless that bathroom has turned into a funhouse in which case, what bastard did that?"

"I think you're over-reacting."

"No, you're under reacting- If it weren't for your seed swimming around my uterus, I wouldn't be some freaky bearded knocked up lady thing! Take Norah, while I go pluck my masculine lip and chin hairs before I can travel with the circus coming to town next week!"

She handed Norah to Marshall, stepping back into the bathroom, rummaging through a junk drawer for tweezers.

"Mary, it's not that big of a deal, just calm down!"

"You know what Marshall? You know what I'm sick of? People telling me to calm down, people telling the pregnant, newly bulging, woman to calm down! You do it! Stan does it! Delia's even getting in on the fun! I won't be surprised if Norah's first utterance is 'calm down mommy'!"

"Dutifully noted. But Seriously Mary, you can ask , it's totally normal." The mentioning of her OB made her eyes flash with disappointment. They had a timing issue with their last appointment, which was today; unfortunately, they had to make a tedious seven hour car- ride to check up on a few long distance witnesses. He tried like hell to tear down the dirt roads to get back home, but they arrive an hour too late. She claimed it was 'no big deal', that it wasn't a really important visit. She claimed it clearly hurt Marshall more, because he was most adamant about finding out the sex of the baby. And yes, he was disappointed, and annoyed that they wouldn't just let them see the doctor. She already knew, she had performed the ultrasound days ago, and had determined the baby's gender, but it took him days to convince Mary it wouldn't hurt to know. Yet again she had gotten her way, but was unhappy about it. Secretly she wondered what the sex of the tiny human occupying her insides was.

Mary paused split second and then retorted,

"Yeah well, I don't do normal. If you haven't figured that out all ready, you- OUCH." She plucked a seemingly non- existent hair from her face, interrupting herself.

He snickered to himself, turning away, realizing that she would be getting no full sentences out of her mouth, 'ouching' every two seconds as her unoccupied hand followed the ripples in her stomach,

"This kid just doesn't quit!" Marshall heard her growl as he walked away, Norah whining in his ear as they furthered from her mother, he imagined she'd grow up wondering about her mother, why she had a perpetual scowl upon her pretty face, or no friends over for dinner. He hoped Norah would find that as she grew up, she wasn't as misunderstood as her own mother.

He took most of her quips with a grain of salt, sometimes they hurt, but she didn't mean it, he knew that. Moments like these he just wished for a little more grace, a tiny bit more patience and a better poker face. She had blonde hair; it was in fact, barely noticeable, her 'mustache' that is.

A bottle and a few burps later, the yelps of pain coming from the bathroom had subsided and Mary showed her face again, her eyes slits,

"Okay walking encyclopedia, King of the factoids- will I be plucking my chin hairs for the rest of my life, or is this temporary."

"If I answer any other way other than 'temporary', I have an unnerving hunch that I'll be sleeping on the couch the rest of this gestation period.." he grinned.

"Marshall, I'm serious…" she whimpered, taking her hand away to show her beat red upper lip.

"Mare… of course it's only temporary. Your hormones are raging, forgive me for saying so, but it's true." He placed Norah in her bouncy chair, and looked at her face, Marshall took her chin into his hand, lifting it to look her in the eye, "No matter how you feel, I promise you, you're the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on.." he smirked again, caressing her cheek with his large hand. Marshall pulled her into his arms, pulling his fingers through the knots in her matted blonde hair from the long journey home. He kissed her tenderly upon her cheek bone and then again on her temple, "I don't want to hear otherwise." He whispered, pecking her neck and smoothing her hair. She twitched in his arms, causing him to smile wider; he placed his hands on the small bump that was forming underneath her blouse,

"You're just saying that 'cause your future's swimming around in my womb."

"No- I've always thought you were gorgeous, your smile is intoxicating- he gushed, feeling his cheeks turn pink to match her irritated upper lip. He wasn't used to showering her with compliments or elements of her rousing beauty because usually, she wouldn't let him. Obviously discouraged, she let him flood her ear drums with such laudations. "You-

He sighed as the familiar jingling of her cell phone pierced the lusty air from Mary's jacket pocket.

She fumbled for her blackberry, shoving her entire hand into the opening of her coat, jamming in her send key; she pressed it to her ear. Her face twisted in confusion,

"It's for you." She stated, sticking her phone in Marshall's face.

"Marshall Mann." He answered, a discernible expression of curiosity spread across his visage. "Oh, Yes… Why? Alrighty then, that is, thank you!" his face beamed, "We'll see you soon! Enjoy your evening!" he reciprocated to the unclear mumbling Mary couldn't quite make out. Marshall handed her the cell phone, his eyes dancing with glee, a simpering grin from ear to ear.

"What the hell was that all about?" she questioned, throwing her phone onto the couch.

"That was just ." he responded, picking Norah up to nudge her belly, making her giggle.

"Yeah? Why would she ask for you? It's my plumbing that's all bonkers, not yours!" she argued.

"It has nothing to do with your internal workings! It has something to do with the human being disrupting your internal workings!" he said, his smile so wide it distorted his voice just so that he sounded a smidge condescending.

"What about _it_?"

He ignored her yet again referring to their child as an "it"-

"That is where you're wrong my friend!" he corrected, a playful finger pointing in her direction.

"Are you retarded? What are you talking about?" she pried.

He stood up, seemingly towering over his fiancé,

"I've already explained to you I don't find it at all acceptable when you call _my daughter_ an 'it'!"

"Oh c'mon! You can't seriously- she stopped, her potential tirade coming to and end before it even started.

"I'm very serious when it comes to my girls." He played on, taking his hand to Mary's stomach he rubbed with his fingers in swirls, chuckling as her eyes darted back and forth into his.

"A girl?" she asked, unable to mask her joyous disbelief in her tone.

"That's right Mare."

He could imagine that she was having unbelievable flashbacks, Brandi in her crib, Mary on her tiptoes, looking in to see the big blue eyed baby staring back at her, both sporting golden locks; her eyes were off in her memories as Marshall took her into his arms…

(Okay, humor, I hope the ending was sweet, I tried, and this one was kind of hard to crank out for some reason. I hope you enjoy the update, I appreciate the reviews! And I look forward to reading more )


	6. 22 weeks Part I

**Week 22 Part I**

"STOP TOUCHING ME!" The taken aback look on the elderly woman's face was enough to make Marshall apologize several times after Mary had escaped into the abyss of baby clothes, a place she normally didn't like to be in, but Norah was in desperate need for some lighter garments as the weather in Albuquerque grew warmer.

He mumbled another apology as he walked away, his eyes glued to his feet, ashamed to make any more contact with the appalled woman, obstructing the diaper aisle.

"Mary, was that really appropriate?" he whispered, his voice hoarse with embarrassment, as he caught up with his fiancé booking through the toddler toys.

She whipped around, her eyes slits,

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but this is my womb! My stomach, my insides! Christ Marshall, I don't want them touching me! And by them, I mean decrepit old ladies, groping me and touching me with their old, shaky, osteoporosis riddled hands!- What about this?" she asked, lifting a pair of light pants from the rack, "You think she'll like these?" she asked foolishly, feeling the fabric between her fingers.

Marshall shrugged his shoulders, confused,

"Wh- his expression was quizzical, worthy of a smirk if Mary hadn't been in the middle of one of her mood swings.

"What the hell am I saying? She's a baby; she doesn't know what the hell she's wearing." She finally realized, chucking a variety of colors of that same pair into her cart, leaving Marshall to pick through for some shirts to match. It took him exponentially longer to sift through the racks; he took his time searching for Norah's wardrobe. It wasn't that Mary didn't want her daughter to look spiffy; it was more like Marshall didn't want her to look the same every day. This little girl was already destined for tom-boy hood and he had no problem with that, you only needed a short glance at her mother to realize they would be purchasing a softball mitt as soon as the youngster was old enough to throw. Marshall looked forward to having a catch with her as soon as he had the opportunity, as well as the little girl currently occupying his fiancés womb. He let this happy thought placate Mary's undesirable behavior a few moments ago.

She ran through the rest of the store, determined not to leave Jinx with her child any longer than she already had, ignoring any older looking shoppers at all costs, swerving the cart, causing the wheels to squeal louder than they already were. It reminded Marshall of how she drove.

Later that night, after the effects of Jinx tapered off and Mary was settled into her usual spot on the sofa, dozing in and out of consciousness, he found it more appropriate to bring up what had been on his mind all day.

"Hey Mare." He started softly, "I was thinking, since we know the sex of the baby, we could start considering some names."

"Mhmm, Marshall, we have a lot of time for that…" she answered, one eye open, while she rubbed the tired out of the other.

"Well, we have what? Twenty weeks? We're nearly half way through, give or take a couple days, maybe a week…" he said, taking into account the early arrival of Norah.

"Please, some other time…"

"Oh, c'mon Mary- let's just discuss a few names, that's all…just a few, we'll make a list.."

"You know I love the list, but, really- not right now…"

"Fine. But why are you avoiding this? How could something so joyous like choosing a name for our child inconvenience you? I just need to know." He stated, the one annoyed for once.

"It's not _inconviencing _me! I just have a lot on my mind! Work, Norah…"

The look in her eyes was all too familiar, there was something else eating away, and swimming in the depths of her brain.

"Work, check, your mind is always on work, Norah, that's a given, I always think about her… Mary there's something else… tell me."

He knew how much Mary hated prying. So he kept it light, running his fingers through her blonde strands, kissing her temple. Marshall could see her about to divulge,

"I- My mother…"

"What about Jinx?" he asked.

"She, well, err- brought something up today, that I just wasn't expecting… She just caught me off guard…"

He feigned surprise,

"_You_? _Mary Shannon_? _Caught off guard_?" Marshall squeezed her shoulder playfully, hoping it would lighten her hardened mood.

"Yeah, well- get ready Doof for brains, cause' this might even get your panties in a wad-

"I'm bracing myself…" he coaxed,

"She asked me, now, this is after she gave me the 'good for you for not marrying Mark after he knocked you up' speech, she told me, get this, that we were taking too long to get married, me being impregnated with your kid and all, you know in Jinxy talk. And now, for some God damn reason I can't get it out of my head…"

"It's not necessarily a silly idea." He stated, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"But Marshall, are what we doing _wrong_? It doesn't feel wrong to me, I just- like the things the way they are…" she admitted, chewing on her thumbnail.

"So you don't want to marry me?"

"Marshall…" she trailed off, dropping her head in her hands.

"What? I feel like I have a right to know, if the woman I'm engaged to doesn't want to take that next step than what's the purpose of wearing my engagement ring?"

"Of course I want to marry you, just not-

"Why not now?"

"Have you lost your marbles, have you not heard what the hell I just said?"

"I did hear you; I have not lost my _marbles _per say, what I am suggesting is spontaneity … It doesn't have to be fancy… I don't care about that, I'm not asking you for a white wedding, I'm not asking for you to invite every last person you know, or your mother even. I'm asking you to get in the car and come with me to the town hall and get an insignificant piece of paper signed and be my wife. Nothing will change; we don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to…"

"I love you; let me start with that, so much, I trust you, more than anyone else in the entire world!" Mary sat up, her eyes wide and brooding.

"Then marry me, let's grab Norah, buckle her in to her car seat and take the five minutes, walk in, wait an hour and leave, married… Please." He ended, kneeling on the ground, nearly begging.

"I like Lil." She countered, sitting back on the couch.

"What?"

"The name, Lillian- Lillian Melinda Mann."

"Mary, don't change the subject!"

"You can't ask me to make two life changing decisions in my life in the same day!" she argued.

"I'm not. The only thing that will change is our tax returns; your left hand will sport another ring!"

"Marshall, I don't know.."

"If you don't give in to marrying me right now, on this Tuesday, at 6:34 in the evening, I will make damn sure that I give your mother free range in planning our wedding, a wedding in a church, with a priest-

"Jesus Marshall! Is it that important to you, fine! Get Norah, I have to pee, and brush my hair, and get out of these sweats…" she mumbled.

He knew she wouldn't have agreed to it if she were truly adamant. He knew she would have heightened her refusal enough to get her way if she really didn't want to marry him.

Marshall hopped up from his former spot on the hardwood, triumphant and grinning, hoping in the time she took to brushed her hair she wouldn't change her mind…

_(I hope you like it. I know the marriage thing seems random, but I feel like it's necessary…I really enjoy your reviews, thanks so much to everyone who has taken time and read and have been following along! Mary humor might be light in this chapter, I'll get going…)_


	7. 22 weeks part II

**Week 22 Part II**

Mary looked up at him; the urgency in her green eyes had subsided replaced with pure fear.

She apologized so many times as Marshall buckled Norah into the car seat, but after she had emerged from the bathroom, her one hand covered in blood he went into auto pilot, no matter what came from her mouth was countered with, "Mare, I promise everything is going to be fine." He only hoped he wasn't making promises impossible of keeping.

As he stared down into her eyes, returning the look of immense helplessness, Mary went into full blown hysteria, with tears rolling down her face she of all people began to make promises he wouldn't hold her to keeping. It was terrifying what she was saying; clearly afraid that this would be the end of the road for them, if anything happened to their child,

"Marshall" she wept, "I really liked that name, Lil, I did, I just didn't want to tell you in case something like this happened, in case we were bashed with a stroke of the Shannon family bad luck and now look where we are!" she made a dramatic gesture around the hospital room as she laid atop the bed, covered as not to expose her bottom half.

"Oh Mary, I love that name too, I'm sorry I pushed you today, I didn't mean for this to be the result, but everything is going to be fine..." he trailed off, wondering where he was going with his reassurances, ready to be interrupted,

"We can try again, we c-

"Mare! Why? We have this baby! This one right here" he rested his hand on her stomach, secretly wondering how long it would take a Doctor to arrive on the scene and tell them what the hell was going on, but any vibes of impatience radiating from him would send Mary reeling even more and he could barely handle her the way she was.

"A-and, we can get married, we can get married anywhere you want, we can have babies and get married…"

"Maryyyy, relax! Please just relax, I know you loathe that word, but for me? You're just going to agitate whatever the situation is more if you remain so uptight…"

Thank God Norah was asleep, a screaming baby and a sobbing Mary would have been hell, Mark was taking forever to arrive, and the plan was to hand Norah off to her father in the hallway so Mary wouldn't get a chance to rage about him in any capacity. That's exactly what he did, in a blink of any eye, the carrier that had burdened the nurses and the baby that brought so much joy to Marshall on a normal day was handed off to her dad, along with her diaper bag. No words were exchanged; a muddled 'thank you' and a tiny nod assured Mark that what he was doing was appreciated.

"Who did you just hand my daughter off to?" she questioned, between shudders.

"Her father, don't get angry, we can't have Norah just hanging out here, it's not a fit place for a sleeping infant with all of the commotion and all." Marshall answered, carefully observing whatever expressions playing around on her face.

She was speechless for a moment both hands resting on her stomach,

"I don't feel the butterflies Marshall.." she whispered, seemingly concentrating with what little vigor she could conjure up.

He furrowed his brow, threatened by the statement.

"I'm sure it's just because you're upset Mare, she'll move again, you just wait, she will." He repeated, feeling like a child. Marshall inched closer, until his hand was grasping hers, looking down upon the distraught woman, praying to himself he was correct in assuming that their child was reacting to the overwhelming stress.

He was about to sigh, to let the defeat take hold, but Dr. Reese poked her head in, too cheerful for Marshall even.

"Hey folks, as you're aware, we performed a few ultrasounds and took a peek, I didn't want to jump to conclusions so I apologize for the wait. I understand it must have been torture for you to sit here for so long to hear this news…. It's not good news you two, but it is _fixable_.."

"Uh-huh.." Mary gurgled through the mucus that had built up in her throat, sniffling as she wiped at her runny nose.

"You do have a moderate case of Placenta Previa"

He cringed, well aware Mary didn't know what that was, and she looked back and forth between Marshall and Dr. Reese, ready to crack in two as she searched for an answer without probing with her usual stinging, dripping sarcasm,

"What the hell does that mean?" she moaned.

"It means the placenta is blocking the cervix in some way shape or form.." Marshall answered sadly, squeezing her hand slightly…

"Is that why it looks like WWIII down there?" Mary asked, her eyes red with tears, and her body tensing up,

"Umm- well, ahem, yeah… Unfortunately, that is a symptom…" Dr. Reese responded, sitting on a stool in the corner of the room, waiting out the panic in the U.S. Marshal's eyes, knowing very well Marshall was on it,

"Mare, there are a few levels of severity in Placenta Previa, marginal, partial or complete, , the case Dr. Reese has so kindly informed us you have, can be corrected, only by the baby's accord."

"Which means?" Mary sniffled. "Marshall? Is our baby okay?"

"Yes Mary, your baby is fine, but…" The doctor trailed off.

"BUT what?" She yelled.

"We'll have to keep you overnight… and I'll have to confine you to bed rest until the baby moves the placenta away from the potential opening of the cervix…"

"And how long will that take?" she whispered, gulping at her dry throat.

"As long as it takes, but you will have to take it easy, no exceptions… And absolutely no sex, Placenta Previa is common among women over the age of thirty-five-

Mary shook her head, and Marshall knew a crack about her age was in her next verbalization,

"Yeah DOC- you've informed me that I am and old woman already on multiple occasions, so because I'm like one-hundred years old the pla- whatever is blocking the opening the baby's supposed to come out of?"

"Exactly…But if the placenta does not in fact move before your due date, there are several things we can do, but I don't want you to worry about that." reassured.

"Shouldn't we start some form of steroid to begin maturing the baby's lungs? Mary did have Norah prematurely and now that there's a factor that can cause an early delivery shouldn't we-

"Marshall, relax, ninety percent of these cases correct themselves, but like I said, you'll have to stay the night, so we can make sure everything is running smoothly and then you'll have to take it easy, okay? Can you do that for me?" She questioned as Mary were a small child, which was the sort of treatment she needed in the state she was in.

"If I have to." She pouted, although Marshall was entirely sure she was more than willing to spend whatever it took in bed, having quality time with Norah after the fit she threw just moments ago when their baby's life was potentially in danger.

"We'll handle this as needed you two, but for now, you need to relax… The odds are in your favor."

As she exited, Mary snorted,

"Is she forgetting I'm a Shannon? Odds are never in my favor."

Marshall sighed in relief, letting a tear slip from the corner of his eye. They were quiet for a moment,

"Doofus?" she asked, looking up at her partner, remorse replacing the fear,

"What Mare?" he smiled.

"I'm sorry we didn't get married today." She admitted.

He leaned down, on his knees on the hospital room floor, the hard tile pressing against his knee caps,

"We have a lot of time for that; you and the baby are my first priority…The last thing I want is for anything to happen to you or my daughter." He smiled, adjusting her covers, "I love you. You don't have to marry me tonight for you to know that."

Marshall gave her his best smile,

"I love you too Marshall."

He got up from the floor; he still wanted to marry her, most definitely. And even though he knew it was far from his fault, it still felt that way. He would just have to wait, he could wait, and he had waited for her before. Now he would wait for all of this to blow over, so he could wait some more.

_(Sorry for the serious chapter guys! Next one will be funnnnnnnnyyyyy Thanks for the reviews! You're all awesome for sticking with me!)_


	8. 24 weeks

**24 Weeks**.

"Marshall, when can I get out of this bed?" Mary complained.

He sighed, honestly unsure of when it would be safe as he placed her tray of food on her lap.

"In no time Mare, maybe we can get you moving around the yard in a few days, get you involved in a mellow game of badminton. .." he held a pleasant expression as he arranged her silverware within her reach and sat beside her on the bed.

"I wasn't aware badminton could be anything but… What kind of badminton did you play as a kid?" she questioned, perusing the morsels on her plate, too distracted by the food to attack him with anything just yet.

"I was no child, I was a badminton champ at an older age, and unfortunately my career was ended after a freak shuttlecock injury." He looked up, as if remembering the faithful day, fire burning in his eyes as if the birdie had had it out for him.

"Jesus Marshall, A _shuttlecock_? I swear if Norah or this kid comes out with any distorted, geekazoid mumbo jumbo cause of your nerdy prompting, I'll beat the factoids out of you." She threated, pointing her fork in his direction menacingly.

He smiled, watching her shovel pancakes into her mouth,

"I cannot tell a lie, I was involved in a few intense volleys with that birdie in my heyday!"

"Your _heyday, _hitting a piece of plastic around with flimsy rackets hardly qualifies as a sport… don't give me your bull." Her utensil, now dripping with syrup was yet again very close to his face.

"Perhaps you don't appreciate the particular skill and strategy required for such an activity."

"Oh yeah? You just wait, when this rugrat is out of me, I'll show you! I'll kick your ass doofus!" she argued, revealing chewed up pancake in her mouth as she spoke. He cringed,

"Didn't you mother teach you to close your mouth whilst masticating?"

Mary looked at him quizzically,

"Not while I'm eating!" she whined, gesturing toward her flapjacks.

"What?" He paused, remembering what he had said, "Ohhh_, mastication_?" He repeated, nearly sending Mary into frenzy.

"Don't keep saying it you perv!"

"Mary,_ mastication_ means _to chew_." He stated his face scrunched up in amusement.

"Oh… well quit saying it, it sounds…" she let out a 'yuck' in between her mouthfuls of fluffiness, as Marshall's eyes twinkled with genuine light hearted whimsy.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better…" he slipped, enjoying her look of unusual content as he made his way over to grab Norah from her playpen. Mary didn't go for cheesy, he thought everyone knew that, especially him.

"Quit it… If it weren't for your daughter being such a restless little brat she wouldn't have managed to get me on bed rest, who_ wouldn't_ feel better? I haven't gotten to do a God Damn thing, Marshall; I've been having full, rational conversations with my nine month old daughter… I need to go back to work-

"You will go back when clears it… Please Mary." He was begging, begging for no argument about the subject he had implored her not to tempt him about.

"But-

"NO! I SWEAR, DON'T KEEP BRINGING IT UP! THIS IS MY DAUGHTER TOO." His bony finger shook in the direction of her protruding tummy. His chest rose up and down, Norah squirmed so he placed her back in her play pen and abandoned the issue, feeling slightly guilty walking out the door, leaving his fiancé, staring wildly in his direction.

First, she tried to refuse to marry him, he didn't blame her for the Placenta Previa, if anything _he _was to blame, _he_ had been pushing her, maybe that was a sign, a red light for a marriage between the two- it was his job to tame her, and he hated to admit it sometimes. But that was his role in their relationship and _she_ took advantage of it with some of the crap she pulled. Now, she had done nothing but moan about staying in bed. He woke up at five, took care of everything he could, took extra time for lunch to get home and prepare a meal for her and then he made his way back to the Sunshine Building only to return four or five hours later to cook her dinner and put Norah down.

He huffed, needing to cool off. He sat himself on the couch, massaging his temples between his index fingers. It wasn't long until he heard the familiar pitter patter of Mary's feet coming down the hallway.

"Mary get back in bed." He replied to the groaning floor boards as she inched closer, carrying her bump with gracefulness.

"Marshall-

"Mary that wasn't at all a suggestion." Marshall groaned as she stood looking down on him, her eyes begging for understanding she may or may not deserve.

"Relax, I'll sit on the couch. Bed rest does not necessarily mean I _have _to stay in bed…" she quipped, only to be let down by his response.

"Yes it does… there isn't a loophole to everything, why can't you just follow doctors' orders? You have an appointment tomorrow, just be… patient." Now he was aware he was being unreasonable. Mary was never patient. Patience was a virtue she had never had, was never taught- would never learn.

She placed her hand limply on his knee,

"See where I'm coming from Marsh…" Her eyes were pleading, glittering with the desire for him to no longer be angry.

Mary knew it took much for Marshall to blow a gasket, she felt horrible to realize she had done just that.

He could have cried. He had been trying all of this time, every complaint he let slide, because he was- in fact, trying to see this whole situation from her perspective. Why couldn't she see where _he _was coming from?

"I don't think you understand how I feel… I want one thing and one thing only- your happiness and you constantly remind me that you're not happy, no matter how hard I _try_, no matter what I _do_, how I _act_, you make me feel like- you're _settling_- for me, I mean." He clarified.

For the first time in their young relationship he was getting his point across, he tried to be light, but how he felt was not a light subject. He knew Mary was hard to handle, he knew that too well, but no matter how well he could tame her, he was still a man. He was insecure sometimes too, but Mary could never see that, her being blinded by all of her own insecurities at every waking moment.

Her eyes went wide, her mouth slightly agape she expressed her disbelief in a serious of incomprehensible noises. It seemed like hours went by before she managed actual words,

"I- I'm not settling for you… if anything you are for _me_…. You could have had anyone Marshall, you could have had _Abigail_- the name passed her lips, tasting bitter and horrible, but she allowed it anyway, because as much as she didn't want to admit it, Detective Chaffee had been a catch. And Marshall had given all of that potentially perfect future up, for her. A broken woman, a broken woman who needed copious amounts of attention she didn't want- "I love you, and I'm happy… I really think I am..." she quivered, careful as not to let the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks do just that, fall.

"You _think _you're happy." He repeated with a snicker.

Of all the times for her to suddenly become indecisive, this certainly wasn't a great moment.

"I am. I _know _I am. I have Norah, I have- I have _you." _She answered, releasing some air from her lungs- what more could I ask for? I'm not trying to fight you…I'm not…"

"It's just felt like that lately… I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset while you're in such a fragile state..."

"Fragile state my ass!" she yelled, hopping to her feet, startling the sulking man on the soaf.

"Mary! You don't understand how scared I was in that room, how terrified I _wasn't_ allowed to be! I was afraid because _you_ were afraid!"

"Marshall, I thought you of all people understood, I'm human. I feel… I get scared.. I'm not fearless…"

"I know… For years, you seemed to be… You had me fooled for a while there." He admitted, his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry I haven't been what you expected." She sighed, lifting his chin with her hands, looking into his eyes sincerely.

His eyes were nearly on fire, blazing with the words that had just escaped from her mouth.

"You are _more _than I expected. You _never _cease to amaze me." Marshall reassured, determined to make sure she knew that.

"Quiet, I just ate." Mary quipped.

"Take a second Mare, just one. I've kneeled down on my one knee, I've done my part and I understand, very much so, commitment isn't-

"Don't bombard with that fear of commitment bull, I've heard it a billion times." She fiddled with a few things on the coffee table, moving things around that didn't need to be moved.

"Then set something in stone for me." He replied, referring to a marriage they could have if only she were more sure.

"Right now. Let's get married right now." She answered.

"Mare, I know you want to get out of bed, but this is outrageous…" he joked. You really shouldn't be on your feet anyway." He mentioned, hanging his head.

"Now who's making excuses?- she paused for a short while, racking her brain for any way to change his mind before she lost her nerve-

Then carry me. Carry me to the courthouse."

_(Haha, sorry, this update is a little thick, maybe a little sporadic- my apologies. Please read and review… Any opinion is appreciated!I know how disappointed everyone was when they didn't end up tying the knot so I figured…)_


	9. 26 Weeks

**26 Weeks**

"Marshall where are my keys?" Mary asked, walking by him, her eyes darting every which way in search for the object.

"On the counter." He said, with a smile.

"Oh yeah- Mary shuffled to the kitchen to grab them and then turned around, her brow furrowed- umm, Marshall?"

"What Mare?" he asked, looking up from polishing his shoe he had scuffed at work today.

"Where did I put my wedding band yesterday?"

"In the case, on your dresser!" he called from the couch, still content with his cloth and black shoe polish.

"Thanks." She said, as she hurried by.

"Mare, Norah doesn't have to be picked up for like two and a half hours, what are you even doing?"

Mary walked back out,

"If I sit down, I'll get tired and I'll forget where all my crap is. I have to put the wedding band on and put my keys in my coat pocket so in a couple hours when it's time to go, I can actually_ go_." She snipped, making her way back down the hallway in search of her ring.

Marshall looked at his, new and shining in the overhead lighting of the living room. He smiled, it was only two weeks ago they had been married. "Then carry me." The words were still fresh in his mind as if only minutes ago she had said them. He guessed she didn't expect him to take her up on that offer. Shortly after lifting her, unfortunately not with his knees, his back cracked and Mary started flailing her limbs to get down. Such an act required trust and although she trusted Marshall, the fear of falling to the hard wood floor while Norah crawled about scared her to no end. So that quickly went out the door and he had to settle for walking arm in arm to the car.

The judge married them quickly, taking only a minute or two to recite the legal jargon and then he blandly ended with, "You may kiss the bride." Which Marshall knew wasn't actually a part of it, but was grateful that the man gave him that option. With two hands on her rounding sides he pressed his lips to hers, gently, but affectionately,

"That wasn't so hard was it?" he had asked, as they let go of each other.

The wedding bands had come much later, after the feat of telling his parents and informing Jinx, Brandi and not to mention, Stan. Each of them had –had a different reaction,

_"Mom, dad? I understand this may seem a little inappropriate to do over speaker phone… But Mary and I, we're married." He held his breath, waiting for an onslaught of yelling or crying or heaving, whatever his mother had felt like doing that day, but none of those came. A squeal was shrill from the other end of the line,_

"_OOOOHHH Marshall!- inaudible whispers could be heard, but none seemed angry to him so he shook them off, awaiting his wife to say something to let them know she was present- We're so happy for you two! We figured you'd elope- we know Mary isn't much of a people person.."_

"_Ahem." She finally spoke, "Yup we tied the knot and you two are the first to know so consider yourselves special." Mary scratched her head, "I have no idea how he convinced me to tell __**anyone.**__" She nudged him in the side with her elbow, but a smile was on her face. _

They talked for what seemed like hours after that, Mary took three breaks, two to go to the bathroom and one to change an especially ripe diaper that Norah had produced.

Brandi and Jinx were much more dramatic, how they had managed to get into their home _together_ with Mary's approval he had yet to figure out.

"_Why would you just go behind our backs and do something like that?" jinx screeched, causing Mary's hands to shift from her sides to her stomach, Jinx's voice- Marshall had noticed- always sent their child into a frenzy. He usually rested his hand on her middle when he got a chance, because he enjoyed the feeling so much. Most times, Mary would slap it away and say something along the lines of 'I'm not Buddha; don't be manhandling me for good luck.'_

"_Oh Mom, just relax, we both know Mary's a private person…" Surprisingly, Brandi was attempting to be the voice of reason._

"_It's not fair. "She pouted like a small child, her arms crossed and her bottom lip protruding, Mary had been uncharacteristically quiet and calm during her mother's scene. Marshall had warned her it would be this way, maybe that was why she was on her best behavior even though her mother had unraveled so quickly._

"_I'm sorry we went 'behind your back's', but Mare and I just wanted this to be our own memory, so that we could reflect back on it as a moment of spontaneity in our relationship."_

"_And you know how much I hate being spontaneous." Mary added to his sentence._

"_Yeah, she even makes lists-_

"_I make lists." She interrupted, repeating after him, clearly hoping to sound convincing more than annoying, scaring Marshall in a way for no venom poured from her mouth, and no sarcasm or anger shot out from her tone. Mary shrugged after this keeping her hands glued to her belly, "I'm sorry if we hurt your feelings." She added softly, not making eye contact with either one of her family members._

_Marshall was shocked, flabbergasted at best. Mary had just apologized? What was even happening?_

_Brandi broke the silent, gaping stares at her sister, by wrapping her arms around the two,_

"_This is so exciting! I'm here with newlyweds!" she grinned from ear to ear, her eyes dancing with delight while Jinx, cracked her own smirk, _

"_Congratulations you two." She finally confessed, joining them in their group embrace._

Later, Marshall had asked what had been up, trying to work around telling her outright that when she was nice it freaked him out. He didn't want to upset her. He was a little unprepared for the answer, because Mary usually took a bit of prodding before she divulged anything, to anyone.

"_I know you know that she moves… a lot. But when Jinx talks, she doesn't just kick, but she really __**hurts. **__She rolls around and it just, I don't know- irks me in a way…"_

_Marshall chuckled, _

"_I understand pregnancy is uncomfortable, you have expressed such feelings before to me on multiple occasions, but shortly, she'll be so big, she won't have room to roll around anymore. Possibly next week even…" He rubbed her arm, hoping he had comforted her._

"_Don't hope she gets too big, Jesus Marshall, what do you think I have a death wish? You don't have to push her out! I do!" And Mary was back. She had only left briefly. Why hadn't he enjoyed it?_

Stan was much different,

"_Inspectors! Those rings need to be off when you're here! I can't have __**partners **__prancing around the office wearing wedding bands! That's a conflict of interest."_

_Mary had stood there silent, her mouth wide open, her bulge keeping Stan far from the two of them. _

"_I'm sorry. I had to be your boss. I'll cover your asses, but don't let this change anything! Now I can say- Congratulations! My kids are growin up ." he joked, coming closer, hesitating forward._

"_Stan, I'm not gonna break you can hug me." Mary snorted, taking a few steps toward him, causing him to sputter a bit on his mouthful of coffee._

_Marshall snorted and then slipped his ring from his finger into his pocket, and took his turn to hug his boss as Mary did the same._

"Jesus Christ, where the hell did I put Norah's teething rings?"

"Why do you need those?" he asked, his eyebrows rose as he inflected his voice with confusion.

"Norah was cutting a tooth when Mark took her, so I just want to be prepared! Do _you_ want to deal with a screeching baby in a car?" she snapped, "My GOD! Where the hell did I put those God damn vitamins!"

"Okay Mare. Just sit down. I'll get you what you need.." he soothed, putting his shoes in the closet and placing the polish on the top shelf out of anyone else's reach.

"Marshall what is going on? I feel like my brain has turned into mush!" she complained, dropping onto the sofa, her hands going directly to her back as she realized that had been a mistake.

"It's called Pregnancy brain." Marshall replied, handing her the prenatal supplements she had been looking for.

"Doofus, that's an old freakin wives tale." She spat.

"Is it? You seem to be experiencing some difficulties with your memory." He replied slyly.

"Yeah, but that's just a- a- what's that word?"

"Coincidence? Is it Mare?" he asked, twirling the teething rings he had found on his finger to show her, "I'm putting these in the freezer." He made his way to the kitchen, returning shortly,

"Shut up Marshall." Mary said, sitting up to get a better handle on her back.

"It's normal. You just have to realize you can't do _everything_. You need to sleep and rest when you can, no matter how hard it is for you. You're a multi-tasker, everyone is aware of that… But you're carrying a baby, _our_ baby- you're intellectually wiped, creating human life takes special hormones that in large doses, mess with your brain power, so just hang in there. Three months to go. I know you can do it." He said, kissing the top of her head. "Now how about a back rub?" he asked, running his long fingers down her spine, causing her to practically melt under his touch as he took a seat beside her.

"How about a little more than a back rub?" she offered, throwing her leg over his lap so she was straddling him, her hands followed his torso up to his shoulders, and he was unable to speak for a few, long moments as she occupied his mouth with hers.

Marshall gently pushed her off of him,

"I'm sorry Mare, as tempting as it is. And you _know_ how tempting it is, the doctor hasn't cleared you for sexual activity."

She adjusted herself, holding her bump as if it were necessary to hold it in place,

"You're the only man I know who can kill a mood with the term 'sexual activity' or use it all for that matter. Never mind, we don't have time for the things I was planning on doing to you anyway." She teased.

He cringed, knowing she was completely aware that- that was a low blow. He wanted it just as badly as she did. But he couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry Mare, I can't risk the welfare of our baby for my own selfish desires." He sighed, sitting back and clicking on the television.

"Yo! Marshall, I still want that back rub." She scolded, pulling the remote from his hands.

"You almost make me feel guilty for forgetting." He grinned, spreading his legs as far as he could manage for Mary to get in an acceptable position for her back to be, in fact, rubbed.

"That's what I'm here for."

Marshall laughed to himself. She had been giving him a hard time, and he didn't expect that to stop. But he hoped she would loosen up enough in the coming weeks to stop history from repeating itself. They still had a long stretch before she was safe to deliver; he just hoped this little girl wanted to cook a little longer than Norah did.

(_Sorry it's been so long. I honestly didn't mean to make the updates so sporadic- as I have told you many times before! If you haven't read my new fic __**Her Moment of Weakness**__ please do! I love reviews! I appreciate them soooo much! Thanks for everyone who has alerted. Sorry for keeping you waiting!)_


	10. 28 weeks

_**28 Weeks**_

"Mary, take a deep breath in, and out- at least try and pay attention to this class!" Marshall whispered anxiously, as she stared off into an entirely different direction,

"I already told you! I don't care about this panting BS! How you talked me into this stupid phooey is beyond me!"

"I'm not the one who is going to have to push a human being out of themselves now am I, listen!" he scolded, gently turning her head to the instructor, "I don't mean to be harsh, but you're in your third trimester- I want you to be prepared this time. I want it to be easier now that you understand what the process is like."

"You mean painful and embarrassing? Lying in an uncomfortable hospital bed, feet in stirrups, while some lady, whom I barely know takes peeks at my hoo-hah? Then I know precisely what I'm in for Marshall. There's no reason for me-

"Excuse me, but do you have something to share with our first time mothers?" the instructor interrupted, stopping Mary dead in the middle of her sentence. Marshall chuckled as he wiped the hair from her face that had fallen out from behind her ear during her apparently somewhat loud rant. He adjusted himself, behind her, stretching his legs which were straddled around his wife.

"That's not necessary." Mary stated, waving her hands to make it more obvious she was refusing the offer. "

Marshall could see the woman wasn't going to let up, and he knew Mary would, without question, pull her glock on this innocent bystander if she kept insisting, which, she seemed she was going to keep doing,

"Perhaps I could take the stage ma'am?" He raised his arm playfully, volunteering himself, while his partner eyed him suspiciously. She remember very well that he hadn't been present for Norah's birth, only what came before- the ride in the ambulance, settling into the hospital room, three hours of labor- unfortunately, after he had graciously offered to grab her things from her home, Mark had practically shooed him away. It's not like she could have stopped it, Jinx was nearly on top of her with ice chips and cool wash cloths and the pain was just…. _Unbearable._ She would have much preferred Marshall standing over her, spewing out words of encouragement and actual pieces of helpful information, rather than her panicking, overly excited ex-husband- who she was honestly sure had never understood where babies came from or ever fathom he'd be witnessing one first hand.

Marshall occupied his hands on her back to keep her quiet as he told some truth and fabricated the rest of his story to keep the class content and her calm,

"Well, you see. My Mary- she snorted, very loud- she went into labor at the end of her sister's beautiful wedding ceremony-

The class seemed to "aww" in unison, causing her to roll her eyes.

-I know, perfect ending to a perfect day, right?" he played along, applying more pressure to her shoulder blades.

"Sure, if perfect is you're water breaking all over your favorite leggings, or feeling like you have to take the most wicked- Marshall jabbed her gently on her shoulder,

"ANYWAY, Mary's water broke about fifteen minutes after her first debilitating contraction, and they continued on, steadily increasing in intensity for eight whole hours, I wasn't entirely sure if I'd ever feel my phalanges again-

"Phanlanges?" Mary snickered again,

"However, moments after I regained feeling in my fingers, her doctor informed us that Mary would have to push, now at first she was skeptical, scared to become a mother-

"Woah, woah, woah! No- don't listen to this cacophony story, Jesus. I wasn't scared because of_ that_, I was scared because it felt like someone was tearing me apart from the inside an _entire_ two months _early_, I was scared because up until I saw my kid in that incubator contraption in that hospital, I didn't even _know_ if I could be a mom! I was scared that my job would suffer and my family would screw my kid up, I wasn't _afraid _of being a mom, I was afraid of losing everything to be something I never wanted to be in the first place! The labor and delivery, let's face it, is a piece of cake compared to three in the morning feedings and nasty diapers- of course it hurt like hell and I crushed Marshall's hand to near bits, but I got through it! Christ, he's telling you lies!" She elbowed him in his stomach, "Get on with your panting techniques and the hair stroking, our story is done!" Mary demanded the instructor, eying her husband, realizing he had done it all on purpose, the only thing he had been trying to prevent was the scene she had made, which he must have given up on, just to hear what was on her mind.

"We apologize, if you would continue, there's a possibility she'll be ready for story time next class." He winked,

"No, he's wrong- I won't be. Marshall I am going back to work, excuse me ladies." She replied sarcastically, struggling off of the pink mat, using any part of Marshall's for support, "I think I'll just skip the graphic birth videos, and spare myself the disturbing mental images." Mary pulled her blouse down, hiding the elastic waist band of her jeans.

He watched her exit the room, in partial awe.

"Umm, it was nice to be a part of your class..." he shook the teacher's hand, grabbed his jacket and took the same path out of the building.

He found her, sitting in the mini-van her arms crossed, a look that could kill spread across her face; Marshall was scared to open the driver's side,

"Why would you pull that crap in there?!" she hollered as he closed the door.

"I didn't pull anything per say, I was simply trying to support you! I was trying to get you to realize-

"I don't need to do any realizing! NONE! Marshall, I don't want to talk about how I_ felt_ when Norah was born, I don't want to feel how I _felt_ when I was lying on those steps! I know how it was when I saw her for the first time- I loved her, and I don't_ need_ to do any realizing about that!" She huffed, pulling lint off the arm of her seat.

"I don't mean it that way, I just don't want you to suffer through this delivery!" he argued.

"No matter what, I'm_ gonna_ suffer! Okay! It's _gonna_ hurt, I'm _gonna _scream! Classes are _not _going to change that! I am scared, YES! But you don't have to throw that out for the whole world to see, you don't have to display that to the universe!" she screamed.

He touched her cheek, but she pulled away,

"Don't-

"Stop telling me_ not_ to do things, stop telling me to stay_ away_. I want to _protect_ you; I want everything to be okay! Why are you fighting me?" Marshall begged.

"I don't need protection, I can take care of myself!-

"But the point is you don't have to anymore! The point is I am here! You don't need to worry about being scared or the unexpected because I am not going to let anything happen to you, Norah, or our baby!" he placed his hand on her protruding stomach and this time she didn't pull away. Underneath his long fingers he could feel the jabbing of a little foot, and some little fingers pressing back.

"I- OWAHHH-

Marshall pulled away, raising both of his arms as if to surrender,

"What?!" he asked, searching for any reason why she would cry out in pain like she did.

"Marshall- it's AHH- please, I don't- why is this happening?" Mary questioned, "I'm not even, I can't- she looked up to him pleadingly, "Why has everything gone wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong! Absolutely nothing!" He turned the key in the ignition already in reverse before the engine fully roared to life, "I'm telling you right now, you are not going to have this baby today!" he reassured, turning out of the parking lot, his tires screeching across the black pavement,

"I'm sorry Marshall, I'm sorry this pregnancy has caused you nothing but heart ache, I'm sorry nothing seems to be going right!" She bit her bottom lip, obviously refusing to cry. She knew if she let the tears fall she was no longer in control.

"This pregnancy has caused me the opposite of heart ache, this has been the most amazing experience of my life, and it's not ending tonight! We have three whole months more of all of this, of the crankiness, of the midnight food cravings, me waking up to find you, zoned out, playing with Norah's toes while she sleeps.." he trailed off, hoping he was making her feel better.

"Marshall…"

"Mary- he countered playfully- There will be no baby tonight!" he smiled.

"Okay- okay, no baby tonight, got it…" she breathed.

**Uh-oh, what's happening to the mini Mann? My goodness does the baby drama ever seem to end for Mary! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Review! I love reviews! XD**


	11. 30 Weeks

**Not so long, but it's an update! Hope you like it! I won't get to saucy **

_**30 Weeks**_

_False Alarm. This was the most beautiful phrase in the entire world to Marshall Mann. How could he have panicked like he did? How could he have gotten himself all worked up over completely regular false contractions? _

_ "Braxton Hicks contractions are completely normal in the third trimester of pregnancy Mary, just because you didn't have them with Norah doesn't make it irregular." reassured_

_ "Yeah Mare- he wiped some sweat from her brow- it's just your bodies way of getting ready for the actual thing. Like a dry run before our little girl's arrival. It's like the list, you're preparing yourself." _

Marshall lay back against the bed frame, awaiting Mary to get out of the shower. Norah was snoozing lightly in her crib, in her own room. Stan had just left a few hours ago; they had shared a meal together, discussing a few cases that had slipped through the cracks of time, to Stan's dismay, they chatted about the impending arrival growing away in Mary's womb and Norah's progress on her great journey to take her first steps.

But now, they were alone, and Marshall wanting nothing more than to hold her in his arms. She emerged from the bathroom, the steam surrounding her and he couldn't help but smile. His heart rate rose, he assumed he would be able to see it trying to tear away from his chest if he bothered to look down.

"We need to do laundry, we're out of towels."

His eyebrows rose on his brow. She was dripping wet, standing in the doorway, with nothing covering herself.

"I see." He blushed, hopping up to look for something to cover her bare body, "Wh-what took you so long?" he stuttered hoping to preoccupy her, before she could see him getting so lustily flustered.

She laughed, "I kinda fell asleep standing up in there." Mary ran her fingers through her hair; she attempted a step forward but stumbled instead. Without a second thought, Marshall had her in his arms, steadying her on her own feet. Her very round, and very protruding bump made it just so that his chest just barely lined up with hers. He cleared his throat.

"I apologize."

"For what?" she asked innocently, "For keeping me from falling on my face? Jeez Marshall, grow up, am I really that fat? You can't even look at me."

He could hardly believe that's what she was taking out of all of this; he almost couldn't believe her bottom lip quivering.

"No, you're beautiful! It's nothing like that." Marshall stated, grabbing her by her hands, "It's just so frustrating, I can't even touch you…" It was a ridiculous confession; he was more than ready to take it back.

"What do you mean?" she snorted.

He blushed.

"You come out here, all exposed and I can't even act on those feelings, I can't even-

"Marshall." She was whispering, one of her fingers pressed to her lips, "I'll make you a deal. At forty weeks, if I am still schlepping this kid around, you can do anything you want to me. Got it?" He was about to protest, the doctor's orders swirling around in his brain had been a deterrent for any sort of sexual feelings he had felt toward his wife for at months now. "Don't even say, 'no' that placenta previa bull is all done, everything's back to where it's supposed to be. We're practically in the homestretch-

He opened his mouth again to correct her, but stopped when her eyes widened, a near threat that she would explode on him if he didn't keep it shut,

-Just ten more weeks. Kay doofus?" She kissed him gently on his lips, and made her way to her side of the bed. That was the first time in a while they had—had a quiet exchange of words in weeks, he didn't want to ruin it by asking her why she hadn't bothered to put pajamas on when she climbed into bed. Was she trying to kill him? It was terrifying how calm she was, how nonchalantly she emerged from bathing naked, and not minding his fumbling, attempt at halting any advances. It had to have been that nap in the shower.

He got into bed over the covers. He shivered a little as he cuddled up close to her.

"What the hell Marshall? You can't even be under the same blankets. Christ." She turned over, leaving his arms.

The mood swings had ceased for a few months, but now he could see they were returning again, in a fiery vengeance too. Marshall sighed, and turned onto his back, crossing his ankles and he occupied himself scanning the ceiling with his eyes.

"Turn off the God Damn light!" she ordered, her voice muffled from the pillow case, but easily identifiable as angry.

Marshall sighed again, rolled over and switched off the lamp.

He still hadn't fall asleep, between the chills and the tension Mary had created in the room. He glanced over at the clock. Norah was being especially quiet tonight. It seemed that way whenever he couldn't turn off his brain. Mary turned over, pulling on the sheets a tad before getting situated in whatever position she had found to be comfortable. He barely noticed her green eyes, piercing the darkness and the way they were to intently settled on him.

"I'm sorry Marshall." She whispered in his ear, causing him to jump with fright.

"There's no need to be." He said, as his heart retreated from his throat.

"I don't mean to be so cranky, I don't know what's wrong with me.."

This was surely a test, it had to be. He couldn't answer this honestly.

"You haven't been cranky. Mare you're creating human life. Cranky isn't the correct term…" Marshall cringed, not the best choice in words he thought.

"So what are you saying? I'm one of those grotesque stereotypes, raging hormones, jerky and moody. You make me laugh." She replied, sarcastically and snarky.

"Of course not." He could have kicked himself, not only was he angry with this whole emotional rollercoaster thing, he was sexually frustrated, and mad at himself for resenting the words coming from his wife's mouth, "You've got some precious cargo, you're just keeping her safe." Marshall prayed for the connection to work to get her relax.

The baby monitor began to wail loudly, sending him out of the bed and out the door before she could even respond.

"What's wrong with my mini-Mare?" he asked, lifting the screaming baby into his arms, rubbing her back in hopes it would get her to calm down. "There there babe." He rocked her just slightly. The child's wails grew lighter, and less shrill, and she looked up at the man soothing her, he could melt whenever that little girl took the time to smile.

He brought her down the hallway, knowing if anyone could calm the scary woman in his bedroom it would be the bouncing, baby girl in his arms.

Marshall entered the room, Norah facing Mary's direction. What could have been easily mistaken for cooing and gurgling if no one had been paying attention, got Mary to shoot up from her side of the bed- not an easy feat for someone her size.

"Mum- mah mah mah" Norah babbled.

He grinned from ear to ear,

"You're her first word Mare!"

**How did you like it? Hope you thought it was sweet, guestimations about Norah's age in my story put her at an age where she should be forming her own words now! **

**Review and tell me what you think!**


	12. 32 weeks

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Oh Marshall, you'll never understand Mary!**

_**32 weeks**_

Marshall fiddled with his fingers when he woke up that morning, wondering what the day would have in store. Everything was going quite well. Mary was in the shower, Norah had already been picked up by Mark and there were no witnesses being instated today, if Stan and him could help it.

There were no court dates or appearances to be made by either one of the Inspectors, no con men awaiting another bite at the WITSEC apple. And Marshall had hid her glock. Granted, it was only strapped to his ankle. If there were any dire emergencies where Mary did indeed need to use the force of a firearm, he'd have it in her hands in a jiffy, but he did not intend for any situation of the sort to occur.

He laid her clothes out on the bed and slipped on his own jacket. He knew she would give him hell for it when she got out, but he was just looking for any way to put less stress on his wife. Less stress, no contractions. That was his mindset.

He itched at the unusually larger weapon on his leg, unused to the weight. It hid well underneath his slacks, but he would have to figure a way of walking without the uneven lean. Marshall had told Mary as per, (a made up) WITSEC rule, her gun would have to be placed in her desk drawer before they left the office every evening. He had begun to enforce the rule just a week ago, hoping she wouldn't catch on if he rendered his façade work related. In every way it was work related- if he thought about it. Ronnie was responsible for every last second of that God awful day. The chunks of glass embedded in his head, the run-away bride and the pre-term labor. Who's to say Brandi wouldn't have gone through with her marriage if Mary had been there to calm the nerves of the quaking bride-to- be? But, perhaps the early arrival of Norah was a reason for their companionship now.

Perhaps that faithful day where instinct was to protect Mary rather than Detective Chaffee was a turning point. Perhaps, Marshall being caught soothing his partner in his arms while she panted and moaned was a deciding factor of Abigail's departure. It would have stung him if he had been her. He couldn't imagine how that must have felt, walking into a mutual friend's hospital room to find your fiancé cradling another woman in his arms.

And then there were those weeks afterward. Marshall rushing off to Mary in the wee hours of the morning to assist with the wailing Norah, coming home exhausted to a frisky Abigail to disappoint her by passing out for a few hours, only to return to Mary's home a little after midnight. Marshall could have stopped, but at the end of the day, he found himself miserable in the silence of his own sanctum. With Norah and bantering with Mary he was out of this world content. Abigail figured it out, unreasonably she begged him to choose. Naturally, that couldn't happen, he realized with an aching feeling of defeat. Marshall proceeded to kick himself to the curb, showing up on Mary's doorstep. He smiled,

"_I'll always choose you._" _He had said when she answered the door. _

Marshall sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Come on Mare! We're gonna be late!"

Silence, he no longer heard the shower running. "I heard Delia is making those muffins you like, you know, those ones with the mocha frosting!" He smiled, thinking that would most definitely have her up and out of the bathroom. Even though her bump slowed her down a bit, if food or gunfire was involved she could move real fast.

He shuddered, gun fire… Not something he wanted on his brain right now.

"Mary? Everything all right? Do you need any assistance?" he called, inching closer to the bathroom door.

She emerged, like a couple weeks prior steamy and dripping. This time she was covered with a towel. "How the hell would you _assist me _creepo?" She snapped, running her fingers through her wet hair.

"I was just making- forget it." He stopped himself. "It doesn't matter."

Mary gulped, wiping at her eyes. Once again, he stopped himself from asking her if anything was the matter. "Whatever Doofus. Take a chill pill, this kid isn't going anywhere." Mary gestured to her middle. She trembled a little bit over her last sentence which Marshall chose to ignore.

"Okay." He replied. "Let me just get out of your way!" Marshall kicked one of Norah's toys to the corner of the room so she wouldn't trip on her way out and closed the door behind him, allowing her privacy.

He grabbed a few bottles of water from the refrigerator, pouring a couple into an icy water bottle for his wife and sliding them into his lunch cooler.

"Hey Mare?!" He yelled from the kitchen. "Do you want carrot sticks or grapes for your mid- morning snack?"

"French Fries?" she called from the hallway, brushing her hair out as she waddled her toward him. They both knew she was joking, or Marshall at least_ hoped_ that much.

He looked up to roll his eyes, smiling when he caught sight of what she was wearing. She was sporting a red maternity top, accenting her protrusion nicely and a pair of dress pants Marshall had shamelessly purchased a week ago after Mary had complained nothing fit her anymore. After many different ways of claiming she was horse, he couldn't bare it any longer. Once she had fallen asleep on the sofa (a normal occurrence these days) he snuck off to the nearest department store in search of Mary friendly maternity attire. He got lucky, finding just a few pairs of professional work pants along with some blouses. He came home with a fair amount of bags for such a rushed and spontaneous trip. It was worth the scolding.

"No fried foods… hypertension Mary, hypertension" he warned.

"Yeah yeah, save me the depressing medical spiel and let's get moving!" Mary rested her two hands where her hips were supposed to be, rubbing at what Marshall figured was her most tender areas on her lower back. He noted it in his mind for later this evening.

"After you." He smirked, gesturing toward the door.

As they were walking out, he wasn't expecting her to go tumbling down to the floor. "MARY!?" But it was too late, before he had a chance to drop their things and grab her she was on the ground, sprawling and struggling to reach her feet again.

"Jesus Christ!" she howled. "How the hell did a toy get way the hell over here!?" She still wasn't upright and Marshall was in too much shock to move just yet. "Hey doofus! Wanna give me some help down here!?" She looked up at him accusingly, why he felt guilty for her tripping over one of Norah's play things he hadn't a clue. He felt guilty for a lot recently. Her swollen ankles, her racing heart, her increased body temperature and the seemingly unbearable backaches felt like all his fault. She wouldn't share the blame until their little girl was safe and sound in her arms. He knew that. Everything had changed when Norah was born, this baby would be no different. Mary would pretend for as long as she could that nothing would change until the day their daughter came into this world.

"Are you okay?" He asked, trying to resist the urge to hold her tight as he lifted her into his arms to steady her.

"I'm fine! Why her goddamn blocks are near the doorway I'll never know. Mark didn't even have the courtesy to pick them up?!" She rubbed at her side. "Ah crap, now she won't stop moving!"

"Don't get too riled up. If you calm down so will the baby. Take some deep breaths."He suggested softly.

Mary shot him a glare.

"I'm not in labor, I_ tripped_. Ease up Marshall, God!" She scooped her bag from the floor that he had dropped in the process of getting her back to her feet and stomped out to the car.

He took the deep breath even though he wasn't the one who needed it.

The entire car ride had Mary flustered. First, the radio was all static and the station going in and out several times had her cussing. Once she was done spouting hateful remarks about Marshall's stereo system, she went to the uncharacteristic traffic clogging the streets just a few miles from the Sunshine Building. "How is this even possible?" she hollered. "Where are these people even coming from?! Get the hell outta my town!" She complained put the cracked window of SUV.

"This isn't your town, you come for New Jersey." He teased, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Yeah well, it's been my town long enough! Look at these boneheads.. Clogging my streets with their car wrecks and irresponsibility!"

He couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. "Did you knock your head with that fall this morning?" he questioned.

"No. Jeez Marshall, can't I vent to you?" she complained. "I could be telling you how it reeks of gym socks in this crap mobile, but instead I've picked a topic much to your interest! This shit is political; we're a hell hole now that what's his face has been you know for this long."

He bit his tongue. No use correcting her, she gave it the good ole' mediocre Mary Shannon try.

"I'm not really in the mood to discuss political tastes with you right now." He said kindly, clenching the steering wheel with both hands. She knew he got all riled up when he was caught up in any discussions on government. The usually mellow Marshall Mann was passionate and then some about the country he was indebted to, and the city he dwelled in. She was egging him on and she knew it.

"Damn, uptight much?" She scoffed, crossing her arms angrily.

Marshall couldn't take it any longer. "Excuse me for trying to keep you calm! You know very well I am praying for anything but a repeat of Norah's birth. Why can't you just work with me?" He hadn't meant for his words to be so crudely said, but he couldn't help the fear turning into anger because of her nonchalance and collected attitude toward something he thought to be so serious. "I don't understand how you can be so ignorant of the facts right in front of you!" He continued through gritted teeth, his eyes staring straight ahead at the back bumper of the vehicle in front of them.

It was quiet for an excruciatingly painful amount of time. It seemed like forever for the both of them before she had the courage to say what she had to say. "I'm scared to death." She answered with a whisper, her eyes teary and sad. "This morning I- I was so afraid to start the day I sat on the bathroom floor for twenty minutes. Afraid to move… to breathe even." Mary replied in a low voice, breathy and terrified. "I mean, what if today is just like Norah's birthday? What if that happens again? It isn't such a ridiculous notion, that's the job. That's what I do." She was looking down in what used to be her lap. "I cried." She admitted. "This morning, while you were waiting, I cried." Mary sighed, clearly struggling to begin again. "I don't know why either… and when I fell, I almost did then too." She looked over at him, her expression pleading and her legs restless.

Marshall softened his gaze and looked her in the eye. "I've told you a million times. Everything is going to be fine."

"Yeah, and I'm sick of hearing it!" Her voice grew louder, not quite a yell. "You can't promise me things like that. You know better." She said adamantly, breaking the stare between them.

"Mare, what happened the day Norah came into this world was nothing but a freak accident. You know the job just as well as I do. It's dangerous. That's why both of us are behind a desk today. Stan said if you get restless I can take you as far as the outskirts of Albuquerque to do updates with our model witnesses. No real adventures, no real action." He soothed. "Just give the desk job a couple of weeks. Delia is learning the ropes with your cases, and Charlie is… trying with mine. Needless to say, Stan will need to help him along with a few, but there is no need to worry." He rested his hand on her knee. "Now, I'm going to say this one final time. Mary Shannon, you are thirty two weeks along, there are two whole months before we get to meet our baby. Got it?" He asked softly.

"Got it." She wiped at her face and then her expression hardened when the sound of a car horn pierced their ear drums, startling the both of them. "C'mon Marshall, don't be that dick that holds up the whole line!" she scolded, gesturing to the empty car links nearly a mile ahead of them. "Christ, how am I going to show my face in the morning commute ever again?" she questioned sarcastically.

**I hope you liked it!**

**Please Review and tell me what you thought!**


	13. 34 Weeks

_**Sorry! Here ya go! Please Enjoy, kinda short!**_

**34 Weeks**

"Hey Mare! Norah is down for her nap!" Marshall sighed, looking out the window in the living room. The sun shone brightly outside and like usual there were very few clouds riddling the skies of the New Mexico afternoon. The baby had—had her fun today, her mother holding her close and swinging on the swing set, playing in the sand with her new buckets which were purchased by Jinx and screaming her new, much clearer, favorite word. "Mama!" The remnants of "Dada" were still coming together and both Mark and Marshall were waiting patiently for the day she blurted out the whole thing.

This morning had brought skepticism to Mary, who experienced those pesky Braxton Hicks contractions. It almost made it so their much needed trip to the park didn't happen. Marshall was relieved when she stood up and found the pain had subsided and there wouldn't be another early miracle after all. He stared up into the blueness of sky for a little while longer until the sun was now shining in his eyes. The bright specks in his sight almost made it so he didn't see the dried tears that had left streaks down Mary's face. He frowned. Had he known that she would be so iffy and un-Mary like during this pregnancy perhaps he would have done something differently, been a little kinder or more understanding. But, honestly, he didn't know how much more kind and understanding he could be. She had been a wreck the past two weeks, tossing and turning every night, she would slam the dismiss button on the alarm clock in a horrible mood each morning and remain that way for the rest of the day. No way could Marshall make it better either. No amount of affection (which she resented anyway), nor even a delectable pastry (which was surprising) could bring her back to her normal, even if not happy, usual, content self. He blinked a few times and made an attempt to look into her eyes. He was as close as he could be, her bump seemingly ever expanding, occupied what used to be the empty space in between them and Mary avoided his squinting eyes. "What's the matter?" He asked in a hush tone, trying to hide his true worry within a low, curious undertone.

"Nothing." She whispered. "I'm just letting these goddamn hormones get the best of me. I know how much it freaks you out, so I'm trying to stop it…" She shuddered and sobbed for a few more moments and finally, glanced at his cerulean pools of wonder. "I just c-can't…" she continued. "I honestly, have no idea what's wrong with me!" Mary cried, clutching to him, grabbing onto handfuls of his shirt and pressing her cheek into his chest.

"Okay." He responded simply, taken aback by her non-sensual, but helpless contact with him. This was a most unusual moment and Marshall knew she probably didn't appreciate his uncharacteristic speechlessness.

"Okay?!" Her sentence dripped with anger, he could feel her nails digging into his shoulder blades and he began the process of thinking up something to stop her from drawing blood with her crazy, pregnancy claws. "I can't s-stop we-weeping and all you have to say about it is 'okay'?!" Mary's face was twisted into an odd expression of madness and confusion.

Marshall pulled her in until he could no longer see the potential lecture in his future on her tired face and stroked her hair. She squirmed, but he cleared his throat and vocalized the first thing that he could conjure from his brain that would explain her strange bouts of insanity.

"Oh Mary." He said nervously, praying to the gods that she would calm down in his grasp. If she became anymore hysterical she would wake the baby and how he wished for a few moments of surreal silence before the Tiny- Mann came to join the Mini-Mare. "You had Norah at thirty-two weeks, this is the most pregnant you have ever been. Of course it's overwhelming, the wonder of childbirth and pregnancy are two very difficult processes. But, you have done both before and you have the ability and the strength to do it again." Marshall started gently swaying from side to side as her heaving chest slowed way down. "You are doing something very amazing every moment of the day, creating life is exhausting. You are almost to the finish line…" He kissed the top of her head, his hands now resting on her sides massaging the stretched, round protrusion as he continued to rock her in his arms. She now swayed with the same rhythm as Marshall on her own feet, relaxing for the first time in days. "All I need you to do is focus on yourself." He hummed. "I'll do the rest."

"Mhmm." She answered. Marshall couldn't be sure if it was her way of writing him off or agreeing, but he figured he'd just rather never know. His knees wobbled just slightly as she gradually let herself doze off in his embrace. Slowly and gently he lifted her feet from the ground, hoping not to make her stir enough to wake her completely. She was enervated, her head on his shoulder, snoozing in his straining arms. Marshall chuckled lightly as he made his way down the hallway. He listened to the groaning boards and his popping knees. This was a rather unorthodox Saturday, he thought laying Mary in their bed and only covering her with a sheet. Marshall found he woke up every morning with every blanket from her side wrapped around his lanky body while she rested with the lighter covers. He shivered and she perspired.

Marshall took another look at her before he quietly shut the door. She was miserable all day long, only taking a few seconds to smile at Norah and feign fun on the swing. Then a little boy got a little too rambunctious and threw some sand around and Norah began to scream. Mary spent the next ten minutes arguing with Marshall and dousing the baby's eyes with bottle water. By then, he could plainly see she was reaching her wits end and it was time to pack up and get home.

Norah went down in an hour, needing a little more rocking than her mother. Mary disappeared into their bathroom, something she did on a regular basis, both home and at the Sunshine Building as she hit the homestretch in her third trimester. He laughed thinking about all of her complaints lately. "It feels like someone filled a hefty bag with rocks and stuffed it in my uterus. I'm telling you right now, Marshall this kid better be thirty pounds… On second thought… My poor vagina." She had moaned. He recalled the way her eyebrows rose when the doctor had informed her just yesterday that the tiny, girlie girl Mann was well over eight ounces heavier than Norah was at birth. She spent that entire journey to work that morning making comments about her "poor vagina".

Marshall settled in on the sofa, the baby monitor resting on his chest. It wasn't long until the events of the day had him feeling a little tired himself and he was asleep like his girls were.

X

"MOTHER-

His eyes shot open and the baby monitor went skidding across the floor. Norah's shrill cries came from the machine on the ground from the commotion going on within her ear shot. Marshall found himself sliding across the tile of the hallway to get to Mary. "What?!" He yelled, bursting in the door, losing all of his calm being so startled. "What's wrong?!"

"You're kid! You're freakin kid!" She screamed back, hopping up quickly. Mary, stumbled backward, exhaling sharply. "You're- Woahh- She stopped, trying to make the room stop spinning.

"Mary, what happened?"

"The baby was k-kicking." She breathed. "A-and now I'm dizzy…" She said wearily clearly forgetting what had made her cry out, looking at him with one eye open as her bottom lip began to quiver.

Marshall shot her the most pleading look. It was almost obvious he was begging for her not to cry. He calmed down enough for the groggy, rasp in his voice to return. "You shouldn't get yourself so worked up." He yawned. "And you can't be jumping up the way you did, it can make your blood pressure to drop and do exactly what you have done to yourself. Cause dizziness." He scrunched his nose as Norah's wails pierced his ear drums in a sharper way. "Are you okay?" He asked once more.

"Yeah. I- I'm fine…" She sighed. "Go get her, she's about to make my ear drums bleed." Mary scolded, shooing him away with a gesture.

Marshall came back with a squirming little girl in his arms, screeching for "Mama". He handed her off to her. Mary rubbed at her eyes and put on another smile for the little girl. The way she was with Norah melted his heart. She refused to believe she was a good mother and he spent most of his time trying to convince her that it was definitely so. "You know, she's a lucky girl." Marshall said, sitting on the edge of the bed beside his little family.

"Yeah.. right… And I'm lucky that Jinx is _my _mother." Mary joked, brushing a few of the baby's blonde strands from her eyes.

"When are you gonna stop denying that you're doing something right?" He asked, inching closer. Norah wiggled to get down and Mary set her on the bedroom floor to roam around, this gave her le way to ignore the last question.

Marshall leaned over. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"Awww Marshall." She teased. "I'm not in labor. Believe me, we won't be home when she decides to come, it won't be _that _easy. We will be in the most inconvenient place and it will be the most inconvenient time. Don't you ever forget, she's half Shannon." Mary teased.

He let out a nervous giggle.

If only that weren't a valid point.

**Please review with predictions and opinions!**


	14. 36 Weeks

_**Hey guys! Here's something special for the long wait! So sorry, realllllyyyyy sorry, I hope you enjoy!**_

_**It's a long one!**_

36 Weeks.

"Mary?" Marshall questioned softly as he pushed open the door to the gas station restroom. He slips in as if covertly, attempting to draw no attention to himself to distract any other customers checking out or perusing for snacks. He looks down at her, grimacing as she retches over the toilet bowl. "How are you feeling?"

She had made him stop, his truck hadn't needed fuel nor did either of them want artificial sustenance. She felt sick, she said, and if he didn't pull over her "breakfast would soon be sharing the front seat with them". He had no desire to mop up vomit from the passenger's car mats so he turned into the nearest, dumpiest smart market he saw. Mary went scrambling for the unisex facility as Marshall picked items up and put them down, doing his best acting as if his wife hadn't just shoved through the sketchy looking citizens in the small, smelly area so she could release the bile filling her mouth.

Maybe five minutes later he glanced down at his wrist watch. His brow furrowed and he made his way to her. Now he stood there, observing the hacking, heaving woman kneeling down on the all but sanitary tile floor in this dump.

"I feel wonderful" she gave one last final heave. "You know upchucking is my favorite pass-time." He lent a hand to assist her.

She moved around as if her back were aching more than usual and her hands rubbed at her sides. "How far away are we from home?" she moaned, turning the faucet on.

"Four or five hours… Six tops." Marshall thought aloud. "Why?"

"Wow, thanks for being so specific. Really, great job being spot on there, Marshall." She replied sarcastically rubbing her hands together, with curdling watermelon scented hand soap.

"Why?" He insisted one more time, jumping at the sound of commotion just outside the door.

_Get down, all of you!_

Mary gasped as Marshall pressed his ear to the door, quietly locking the handle. He looked back at her, worry eluding his features. "You okay?"

"Christ Marshall, we can't even go to a gas station without running into some douchebag looking to fuck _something_ up!" She growled, holding her glock in her right hand, digging her knuckles into her lower stomach.

_I mean it! Put the cash in the bag. _

"For some reason, I don't think this place has security cameras" Mary exhaled.

Marshall glanced curiously in her direction again. "You should stay here." He stated. "It only sounds like there's one." He said, randomly pressing his hand to her face.

"That's precisely why both of us should go!" She argued, smacking his hand away.

"You're running a fever." He frowned.

_I TOLD YOU GET DOWN!_

"Blow off Doogie Houser!"

"You can't risk it!" Marshall scolded. "If anything happens to you then I wouldn't be able to live with myself!" he whispered, exasperatedly.

Mary bit her lip, backing up against the sink. Her eyes closed for a split second, and again Marshall's brow furrowed. "I'm going with you Marshall... I'm pregnant, not 're going together." She said adamantly. "Look what kind of dump this is, how old could that cashier have been? He looked twelve to me." Mary waltzed over to the locked door.

Marshall shoved past her. "If you're going to insist, I at least, get to lead." He sighed, wiping his brow of the sweat, burdened and exasperated. She was acting like her usual, angry self but something was off today. It made her convincing rhetoric less so, and set him into a state of unease. "On my count. One, two, three!" Marshall flung the door open, cringing at the squealing hinges that caused the attention to be shifted to them, his honest, first instinct was to shove Mary back into the nasty room they were currently exiting from and continue on, but it was too late. The gun was pointed in their direction.

_Who the hell are you?! _ The man cried, his dirty, white face streaked with pastel paint, bright and ethnic. Mary would chuckle any other time.

"Put the gun down Wantahontowet and give the boy back the cash." Mary half commanded, half groaned. "Before your brains are splattered on that wall behind you!" She added heavily, as if catching her breath.

_You put down your guns. _He shook, his voice trembling in unison with the tremors, obviously racking through his body.

"Just put the weapon down, son. We can resolve this. No cops have to be involved." Marshall lied, holstering his glock.

Mary could have made so many remarks right then, why did he call him son? Why the hell did he just sign his own death wish? She was angry, but the yell that escaped her throat had nothing to do with anger. The man seemed startled by the noise as well as Marshall. Both of them jumped. "Put the fucking gun down, I'm not in the goddamn mood for any games!" Mary ordered.

The man gave a sigh, loud and obnoxious, dropping the gun, but turning. He bolted for the door; the clanging of the bell seemed to grow louder as neither of the two Marshals' decided to run after him. All of the customers stared up in disbelief.

_Aren't you going to run after him? _

"No."

_Why the hell not?_

"It gives you incentive to get some cameras in this hell hole, or a panic button or something for Christ's sake." Mary stepped over a person still lying on the ground. "C'mon Marshall, let's get out of here before a redneck comes in with a double barrel shotgun." She said, grabbing his sleeve and tugging.

"Okay, al- all right…" Marshall stuttered. "Is everyone okay, no harm was done?" he asked, wondering what Mary's rush was about. "Someone should really call the local police…" Marshall was still nervously rattling useless directions at the still stunned people. Some were still lying on the floor even after they were in the car.

"Jeez." Mary breathed, wiping her brow. "Is it hot in here?"

"I'll put the air on." Marshall flicked his wrist to turn the switch and looked at the blonde woman sitting beside him. "What's wrong, Mary? Are you feeling okay?" He asked her, "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"I don't feel well and we've been in a car all day. What the hell else do you need to know?" She questioned irritably.

Marshall turned back onto the dirt road, following it for a few miles, feeling foolish. Certainly, this was just pre-baby jitters. He could wait, why was he so antsy? There was still a month left, he could wait. He repeated that over and over in his head. He could wait.

_Good news Mary, looks like you're in the homestretch. This little girl should come happy and healthy any time she's ready. _

He exhaled. That didn't mean she would come early, he reminded himself.

Marshall reached over and rested his hand on her round stomach. She looked down at his spread out fingers with annoyance.

"Ughhhh." Mary took in a sharp intake of air, and some quiet force rocked her body causing Marshall to pull away.

"What- what was that?" Although, he knew very well what it was. Why it had happened. If he thought he'd probably realize how long it had been happening.

She had her eyes closed, and her face scrunched up in discomfort. "Pull over."

"Mary how long-

"PULL OVER!" She yelled.

So he did.

The car door flung open similar to the way it had when they arrived at the gas station. She heaved herself toward the sand, and with a few graphic splats she rose again, slamming the car door closed.

"How long do you estimate we have?" He asked childishly.

"Oh, days…." Mary replied.

He shook his head. "We have to time the contractions." He stated.

"Ten minutes apart. I have been timing them. This could take hours." Mary lied, shifting uncomfortably. She shuddered, cringing as she pulled her seatbelt over her shoulder.

"Y-you don't have to wear that if it's uncomfortable…" Marshall gulped.

"Of course I'm going to wear it because I expect you to drive like hell to get me somewhere sterile rather than this dirt road from hell!" She gasped, groaning loudly at the same time. She grasped the armrest, "Fuuuuck, why now? Why does the little leech want out, right now?" She cussed.

"Just remember, Mare you've done this before already…"

"Yeah, but not going eighty five down a sandy stretch of Hade!" Mary argued. "Gah!"

"What?!" He asked curiously, recoiling from the strange exclamation.

"It doesn't hurt, it just—uncomfortable, like she's just trying to secede from my uterus altogether. It's making me sick. I can handle the pain Marshall. I just can't handle this feeling, this disgusting feeling in my gut…"

"Indigestion?" He questioned lightly, trying to keep his eyes glued to the road as his heart throbbed with excitement and pressure.

"I'm afraid." She whispered. "Yikes." It was obvious another contraction was gripping her train of thought, so Marshall tapped impatiently on the steering wheel, suddenly wishing she weren't in labor, suddenly wishing his task was to find shrubbery or cover for a quick bathroom break, but he sighed. This was much more difficult, Albuquerque was miles away, the baby was one month early and the crib wasn't even set up. _The crib, _Marshall thought, but stopped. Should he be worrying about a crib now? No, he should be worrying about the human being currently spewing forth from his wife's loins. He should be worried about the mini- Mann apparently, very eager about making her debut, he should be worried about Mary. Mary and her fever and her chills and her sweats, Mary and her fear, Mary and her… tears.

"No, no Mare. Don't cry." He soothed quietly, flashing a desperate look at the woman in his passenger's seat. "I know this isn't ideal, but—

"_Ideal!_? Of all words, adjectives, and goddamn phrases you could have pulled from your giant, oversized brain you pick _ideal? _It is obvious this situation is NOT ideal… giving birth in the front seat of a truck in the middle of nowhere is most definitely not idealistic, forgive me if I'm being melodramatic, but this is certainly not a scene I've ever seen on T.V. or in a movie or even brought up in conversation. I am the only woman who can go into labor in the middle of a workday and end it with a baby in her arms! Only one!" She made gestures with her hands, as if they helped justify her jumbled point.

Marshall had lost her about halfway through. He honestly didn't even know if she was being rational or if she had made even the least bit of sense, but he dug his toe a little deeper into the gas pedal and became just a little more determined at that moment. "Mary, you need to relax. I know you make a stink about those breathing exercises, but as your pain intensifies and the stress begins to build we may find them a little helpful. Now, do as I do." He inhaled deeply through his nose, and out through his mouth and then reversed. "Pick one you feel more comfortable with, in through your nose or in through your mouth and exhaling from the opposite airway… Whichever you find more preferable we'll stick with for the duration."

Marshall expected her to yell, to scream to put up a fuss worthy of the history books, but to his surprise she didn't. He found she was breathing just as steadily, just as calmly as he did. Mimicking the breaths with fierce concentration and made up technique. Marshall could only teach what he read online, after all, Mary did storm out of Lamaze, and they hadn't returned since. He could have chuckled if he wasn't so intent on keeping her from heading into another nonsensical, hormone induced, laborious rampage. God clearly had a sense of humor. Mary was right. He looked around at his surroundings, lit up by the New Mexican sun. Sand, dirt, and an occasional poor looking plant as far as his eye could see, stretched out for miles ahead of them a stretch even overwhelming for Marshall Mann. At that moment, he felt so far away from home he could have cried. But, Mary was doing that enough for the both of them.

_Seven minutes. _He wondered. _How could this be happening so quickly? Mary shaved off three entire minutes from the time she had in between contractions in less than an hour. _She had his wrist and he was steering his vehicle with one hand, praying she wouldn't find the strength to squeeze any harder.

"Marshall?" Mary panted, breaking the raging, busy silence with her quaking voice.

"What Mare?" He asked in a hushed tone, trying to keep the mood light.

"It feels like I'm passing a five pound kidney stone with arms and legs!" She wailed emphatically, blowing out a mouthful of oxygen and sucking in another vast amount. "I can feel her shifting lower and lower, further and further down! Christ, I never thought I'd know where my cervix waassss—she cut herself off with a scowl and a yelp.

"You're doing so great." He reassured, even though he hadn't a clue, even though for all he knew his daughter could be poking her head out to greet him in just moments. It was a joke as it popped into his head, the idea of their baby's head crowning… He gulped, "I think you should take your pants off." He stated, Marshall's eyes still fixed on the road.

Mary's eyebrow rose, and her jaw dropped. "Not that I'm not flattered Marshall…. But—Ah holyyyyyy hell!" She screamed, Marshall jumped, and nearly let out a startled yell but contained it.

"I just want to—

"Make sure there's easy access if I just so happen to peel off my jeans and see someone staring back at me." Mary finished, breathless and tiring as the moments progressed. Her eyes widened. "Marshall, I think you should stop the car."

"Mare, we are nearly there—I

"_Marshall_, I love you, I love the effort you've put in to make sure our baby isn't born on the side of the road parked next to a van selling animal print blankets out of their trunk, but I am telling you, I can't wait anymore." Her face was red and her cheeks were streamed with tears. "Please?" She half begged half yelled. "I can't wait anymore."

It was a blur after that. Him pulling over? He had to be insane. Marshall found himself opening the back seat of his truck and setting Norah's car seat on the floor to make room for both Mary and him, for Mary, him and very soon… their daughter.

She struggled from her spot in the passenger's seat, screeching and moaning as her boots hit the ground. "Damn!" She shouted, clinging to Marshall for support as he held her through a contraction, longer and more mind boggling than the last.

He had one knee resting on the empty space between her legs and his other supported his body which was arched over her so they could both fit in the back seat and Marshall could accomplish the task at hand. Gingerly, he unzipped her pants, pulling them from her swollen, sweaty legs gently, his cheeks flushing for no reason. He repeated the motion with her undergarments. He searched for the blanket they had used at the park just a couple of weeks ago and skillfully laid it over her lap so she wouldn't be entirely exposed if some innocent bystander came strolling about in nowhereville. Next, he located the first aid kit that lay in the spare tire storage, quickly he snapped on a pair of clean, blue, non- latex gloves. He rested his palms on her knees, "I'm no OBGYN, but I am sure I see the beginnings of a head of hair." He stated, leaning into the cause for this statement, examining the miracle having started without them in a way. Marshall hesitated, but reached for the sight, wondering if he was assuming correctly. He touched his fingertips to something slimy and slippery. "Do you feel that?" He asked.

"No,- she glanced down nervously where his hand had disappeared - what are you doing? Marshall, don't be—she inhaled—poking around down there." She exhaled.

"Your water didn't break though…" he muttered curiously, peeking between her legs.

"It did…" she cried. "It did, but I didn't want to—mhmmmm." She growled, " I didn't want to tell you, because- because you were already under enough stress—it had broken in the bathroom at that hell hole of a gas station."

He looked at her sympathetically, scooting closer to Mary, glancing downward. His heart banged in his chest and his throat was dry. "I see our baby Mary." He smiled sheepishly. "She's right here, right in my grasp…" He whispered, looking wonderingly at the very top of his child's head. He looked up to find Mary, exerting herself forward and her features tense and powerful. Her torso curled around her bump and her hands dug into Marshall's wrists, resting on her knees.

She was pushing.

"Nothing happened, she's – she didn't move, but that was good, that was really good Mare!" Marshall praised wriggling his hand free from her grasp and wiping stray hair from her face.

"I'm so sorry Marshall." Mary mumbled, through the haze of another contraction. "I really am.."

He looked up at her sadly and pleadingly. "For what?"

"For _this, _I didn't want it to be like this… I was j-joking… I was just kidding, when I said- s-said she'd be born in the most inconvenient p- place, I r-really don't want her to be like me- not like me, I want her to be, to be—

She stopped mid-sentence, Marshall watching horrified as she sobbed and pushed, glancing down to see again, there was no progress and the baby's head remained in the same position.

"—like you!" she ended with a grunt.

"Mary, Oh Mary.." He quivered. "I want her to be everything _you_ are _and_ everything _I _am. And she will be… You can't think that way." He smiled weakly. "Where she's born, doesn't matter—who she's related to that's not _us _doesn't matter! Does that make sense?" He implored.

"I'd like to believe you Marshall- I'd like to really.. RRRHHHHGG! ACH, it burns! Burns so bad.." Mary wept.

He adjusted the blanket on her legs, "That's normal, that's normal!" he reassured, riling himself up when he caught sight of just an inch more of her head. "She's crowning… Mare she's, you're almost there!"

_GAH! AHRAHHHHH._

Marshall pulled his gloves up to wipe the hair out of his eyes, but he stopped, looking at the blood covering his fingertips.

"That's too much." He muttered, lifting the blanket away again. "Mary you have to stop… You have to stop, don't push anymore, you're tearing."

She glared at him. "I don't think you understand how this works…" She squealed.

He placed his fingers over the ripping flesh, supporting the baby's head. "That should do.." He told her, "I'm sorry if I'm hurting you Mare, I just need to make sure you stop bleeding.."

But, she wasn't listening, she was screaming again. "Come on little girl!" Marshall begged.

It seemed like forever, although it was only seconds. She slid more into his hands, slimy and screaming in all of her pink and gory glory. Marshall pulled her feet out, holding the small human in his arms.

Mary sunk back into the door, sighing and crying. "Thank you—th-thank you so much!" she shook with sobs and gasps.

Marshall chuckled, teary eyed and delighted. He laid the child to her chest. "Keep her warm Mary."

Quickly ,he pulled the laces from his dress shoe tying the umbilical cord off two inches from the little girl's belly button and then digging through the kit for some sort of scissor. He wiped it off with a gauze pad soaked in alcohol and snipped the spongy cord just above where he had tied it off. He shed his jacket and covered Mary and the baby. Marshall smiled. "Look at my girls." He whispered.

He took one last look under the blanket on Mary's lap, handling the placenta with one hand Mary had effortlessly delivered; he held his breath and dumped a few sauce packets from an old, plastic fast food bag. After plopping the afterbirth inside, he knotted the bag and placed it in the trunk area. Taking a few pieces of extra gauze he covered the small area of Mary where she tore, and then replaced the blanket completely over her.

"Hold on tight to her Mare." He ordered politely, snapping the gloves from his hands and smile still plastered on his face. "I know you're tired, but I don't want you to fall asleep until I get you to the hospital, you hear me?"

"How could I Marshall? How am I ever gonna take my eyes off of her?" she whimpered, unashamed by the hormonal surge.

"I don't know." He laughed, planting a kiss on her forehead.

He didn't want to take his eyes off of her either.

_**Hope you enjoyed, review and tell me what you think!**_


	15. 38 Weeks

**Here is the next installment of Forty Weeks, slowly coming to end.. Second to last chapter. Give me a bit to decide how to end it- I don't want to disappoint..**

38 Weeks

Marshall's eyes fluttered open, exhaustion determined to keep them shut. The shrill, far less mature wails of the younger Mann-Shannon babies echoed in his ear drums. Mary was out cold, groaning for a few seconds, rolling over and ultimately losing her battle with sleep. He smiled, it was his turn tonight if they were keeping track, but it was hard to keep a schedule in his mind. Mary was usually woken up anyway because it was unusual that their daughter would take a bottle or only need to be changed.

Norah, as the weeks progressed became better and better at snoozing through the screeches of her younger sibling and for that, both the Marshals were thankful.

He stretched, realizing this was mellow compared to everything else that had happened the past two weeks. This was boring in the least boring way compared to her entrance in the world, he thought as he made his way down the hallway and into her nursery. So many things could have happened; everything could have gone incredibly wrong on the side of that road. It gave him the chills wondering what could have been.

"_You did an absolutely amazing job Mr. Mann." Doctor Reese smiled, examining the half asleep Mary. "On both Mom and baby." She grinned. "Once we get your little one all checked out, you can have your Daddy and Mommy time and we'll be out of your hair." She glanced at up at Mary dozing in and out. "Mary, it's perfectly fine if you want to shut your eyes and get some rest. It's safe now." She rolled away. "And if you want to get into more of a comfortable position that is okay with me. Just be easy on yourself, you do have a few stitches"_

_Marshall cringed. "Was there anything I could have done to prevent that from happening?"_

"_For what? Future reference?" Mary cut in groggily. "In your dreams, Marshall."_

"_You did everything you could, Mary did her part, and you did yours by doing your best to prevent any further tearing, it could have been much worse. She owes you one. You've spared her a few more weeks of pained waddling." chuckled. "Let me go get your little girl." _

_Once she disappeared, Marshall still felt jumpy, wringing his hands and wiping the sweat from his palms on his dress pants, his white shirt splotched with miniscule blood stains, which were barely noticeable. Mary looked over at him, her brow furrowed, "You all right?" She croaked, her tiredness coming through in her every word. _

"_I should be asking you that." He said nervously, sitting down beside her. He grabbed her hand. "Are you?" Marshall questioned. _

"_I'm fine." She yawned. "I just want to see her again before I fall asleep." Mary squeezed weakly at his large paw. "Just to make sure I wasn't imagining how perfect she was." She smiled. _

"_Of course she's perfect." He stated adamantly. "Just like Norah." He pecked her hand gently. _

"_Okay, don't go all soft on me." She teased, her head moving to the opening door and his eyes pouring into the clear, plastic bassinet they wheeled the squirming pink bundle in. _

"_Here she is. Baby Mann happy and healthy, ready to see Mom and Dad." Doctor Reese, announced, hitting the brake to park and, grabbed the child from her slumber. She was pink, her eyes were squeezed shut and face was scrunched up in fuss. The doctor laid her in Marshall's arms. His heart swelled with pride. _

"_Look what we made." He grinned, tears trickling down his cheek._

_He braced himself for a cunning retort, perhaps a diddy she'd been saving for this very day when he got emotional, but she only smiled back. "Thank you, Marshall." She whispered, swiping the bottom of the child's bare foot with her fingertip before drifting off to sleep. _

He looked down at the angry baby. "What do you need Lou?" He questioned soothingly, rocking her back and forth. "Huh? What's making you so upset?"

"_No way, Marshall! Nuh-uh, we are not naming our baby Rae! Damn it, that's a no!"_

"_It was just a wild card… I wasn't expecting you to say yes…" He sighed, taking another peek at their little girl. "I thought you said you liked the name 'Lucy'?" Marshall asked, looking up at his wife. She was sitting up in the hospital bed, her face a little red due to an abnormal increase of her blood pressure shortly after delivering. He didn't want to make her anymore upset than she was already. _

"_I know… But she doesn't look like a Lucy!" Mary whined, scratching around her I.V._

_Marshall held his head in his hands; it's not easy to name a human being- they had to live with it for the rest of their life. It would be a hard burden to bear if a tricky choice now caused any heart ache for their child later. "Mary?" He asked, scooting closer to her. "How about Louise Shannon?" _

_Mary rolled her eyes, preparing to scoff, but stopped. "Louis Shannon Mann." She said quietly, staring down at the wiggling bundle just feet away. "You sure do look like a Louise Shannon." She smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Louise… Lou Mann." _

"_Lou… I like it." Marshall stated. "I think we've got you a name, little girl!" He cooed, taking her gently into his arms. _

"Do me a favor, Lou, please don't be hungry." He strained his neck to smell her bottom, cringing he tried not to gag. "Boy, that is ripe. Well at least we don't have to wake up mommy."

"Thanks for the thought, Marshall. But, you're attempts are in vain." She yawned from the doorway.

"God, I'm sorry Mare." Marshall responded. "I don't think she's hungry." He said, laying the baby onto her new changing table.

"_Stan, I need your help." Marshall asked in a panic._

"_Anything for my best inspector, what do you need?"_

"_Well, Mary and the baby are going home tomorrow and I don't even have the crib set up, or the changing table, the border isn't-_

"_No worries, Marshall, we have it covered." Stan winked, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder. "Now, let me meet your new little girl." _

"No worries." She crept over to the crib, hanging onto Marshall's shoulder as he worked to grab some wipes and a clean diaper. "Norah sure has learned to deal with her, huh?"

"Yeah, she's a heavy little sleeper." He replied, chucking the diaper into the special mechanism Stan had purchased purely on the whim that it looked 'neat'. It came in handy and they were both grateful. It banished the smell of nasty diapers, a smell they didn't enjoy being in their kid's room.

Mary stood behind him, her arms crossed covering her still, oddly shaped bulging stomach and she shuddered. Marshall looked over his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing.." She answered. "It's just.." Mary made her way to the rocking chair she had firmly made clear was too cliché to be in a nursery, but sat in it anyway. "When I had Norah… I was so relieved to feel that emptiness in my gut. I mean, it still wasn't pleasant to feel your insides scrambled all to hell, but it felt better than it does this time." She seemed to admit it with shame, looking down at her feet as she gently rocked back and forth. Marshall listened intently, nodding as she went on.

"That's normal, Mare." He said sweetly, lifting the child from the table and swaying to console her wiggling. She looked as if she was attempting to climb up Marshall's pajamas, but slowly she calmed, allowing him to lay her back in her place.

"Yeah, but…" She fought back tears. "Damn hormones…" She cursed.

Marshall frowned, taking a few steps toward her. "But, what?" He looked down at her, his eyes glazed over with worry.

"But I feel…so _wrong. _I don't feel like me right now and I can't stand it." Now the tears worked their way down her face and her lip quivered and Marshall knew this wasn't his Mary at this exact moment. She was a hormone casserole, swimming through these unfamiliar emotions, trying to find her way out. Trying to be U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon again and get away from the overwhelming take-over of motherly instinct every moment of every day. He enjoyed the way she was with their kids. He never realized it before, but Norah and Louise looked so content in her arms, so natural and comfortable. And she melted while the babies lie in the curvature and crooks of her arms and her tummy. The evenings had gone the same way the past three days. Mary would feed Louise in her arms, Norah would gum on her bottle and fall sound asleep in her legs. All of his girls were usually sound asleep on the couch when he arrived home from the office. He would coax Mary awake after he had taken Norah and put her to bed and grab Lou from her arms, when he was finish settling the smallest one in, Marshall would go back for her. Lately, she'd hold him down the hallway, being dragged by the tired Marshall to their bed. He would toss a few times, awaiting any cries from the little ones, usually getting a few winks before he was beckoned.

"Wrong… Well, Mare." He hadn't an idea what to do, how to console her. "I don't know what to say. Nothing about you is wrong." He smiled tiredly. "You're good at being a mom… What else can you be?"

"I feel like I'm losing who I was, Marshall. I don't regret the girls. I don't." She said adamantly.

"And losing who you were, that's upsetting you?" He pried gently, stepping closer and crouching to be level with the woman in the chair.

"No. That's what scares me."

Marshall cocked his head confusedly. "What do you mean?" It was a dumb question, he saw it in her face, the rolling of her eyes, the drop of her shoulders.

"I miss it. Don't get me wrong, I miss it. But not the way I.. used to." She was seemingly afraid to admit this.

"That's not a bad thing. You shouldn't be ashamed. I know you love being a Marshal, Mary. You're one of the best and that's undeniably so, but it's natural. You have babies at home."

"But, I don't want to be that stereotypical 50's housewife with an apron and the fifteen kids at her heels!" She argued.

"You're not. Not at all. I would never expect that from you. I expect you to be you. I expect to spend time with my girls, and go to work with my wife in the morning and come home with her at night. Everything's the same, but with an extra person." He smiled this great smile. "Of course you're rattled, Mary. We're not just U.S. Marshal's Shannon and Mann with baby Norah anymore, we're The Mann-Shannon's, with two little girls Nor and Lou." He beamed proudly at the idea of it, at the mere mention of it out loud.

She was silent, her breathing loud and steady. He grabbed her hand. "I get that it's scary… But, we're scared together, you got that?" Marshall pulled her up into his arms, feeling the extra Mary that had become so familiar in the last eight months.

"I don't like being scared, you know that." Mary stated with a pout, staring at the child in the crib, watching the slow motion of her chest ride up and down in her PJ jumper.

"We shouldn't fear." He stated. "We're partners… at everything." He added with his usual cheesy-ness. "And that concept couldn't please me anymore." Marshall kissed the top of her and then her neck and then her lips. "Bed?" He asked, his hands pressed to her cheeks, looking into her pools of exhaustion.

"After you, Partner." Mary responded playfully.

"_Stan, I'm telling you, snap her up." Marshall Mann said to his boss. _

" _Is this some kind of Stockholm syndrome?" Stan joked, looking up at his best Inspector playfully. _

_I pride myself on being able to tell when a relationship won't work, and normally I love being right more than anything. More than Blue Moon beer, Exxon on Main Street, food smothered in mole sauce…._

_But sometimes it's good to be wrong._

**What do you think? Please Review with some suggestions on how you would like to see this end!**


	16. 40 Weeks

_**So, I'm sorry for taking so long. I don't want it to end, but it must!**_

_**Here is the last installment of Forty Weeks! Thanks for being so awesome and sticking with this story! Please Enjoy!**_

_**Check out my New Ones!**_

_**Reba- The Now, In Plain Sight- Ghostly Realizations, Rizzoli and Isles- Double Probation**_

_**-Hannanball13**_

_40 Weeks_

"One month old and already almost able to hold a bottle." He smirked, obviously holding the bottle for Lou, while her tiny hands meekly clutched the container of formula.

"Yeah, well she also speaks pig Latin in her sleep." Mary mused, capping another bottle and placing it in the refrigerator. Norah hung onto her pant leg, her chubby stems wobbling and bouncing as she danced and giggled. Her mother smiled, bringing the child into her arms and wiping her tiny strands of blonde hair from her eyes. "What's going on, bug?" She asked, playfully tickling below her chin and under her arm to hear a louder exclamation of glee.

Lou lay in Marshall's arms, suckling her bottle and looking on contently toward her mother and sister. She was alert now, something both parents thoroughly enjoyed. Norah got along well with the little thing, understanding to be gentle, smiling whenever her mother fed the smaller Shannon-Mann, only jealous at nighttime when her baby sister fussed and she just wanted to cuddle. But, that was easy to handle with the both of them as they were extremely efficient working together as everyone knew. Parenting looked easy to onlookers of their life, but it had been all but for them.

Juggling work and sleep deprivation was difficult for Marshall, especially since he claimed most of Mary's work as his wife remained on maternity leave. Stan understood for the most part, but would never _truly get it_, according to his co-inspector and partner in more ways than one- because he was _childless. _But, to Mary, Stan wasn't totally clueless, the kids were going to have it beaten into their moldable brains that he was _Uncle _Stan. Marshall was more than happy to agree that the Chief should have a significant role in their family life as well as career. To Mary, although she didn't like to admit it, he had been a father. Maybe not a take you to the game, tuck you in after a nightmare kind, but he had never let her down—he had never hurt her and for that, Mary was extremely appreciative.

She didn't enjoy being wrong. But, she did now.

She had always thought as a small child, fatherless and caring for her mother and little sister that no man, even those who seemed perfect, even ones her treated her well were just con artists, talking good games and having tricks up their sleeves. In that mindset, it was no wonder she let Raph slip away all those years ago. In that mindset, it was hard for her to change. James Wiley Shannon had been no good symbol for any kind of man, and that had broken Mary for years. If Mary believed in fate—no matter how cheesy and unreal it seemed, Marshall had always been waiting for her, ready to unmask the traits of a very decent, hardworking human being. He had been there all along for her to love; it had just taken a while for her to understand that some people were worth trusting. Even if there were only a few worth being on her list- Marshall, Stan, and now her children.

If Marshall Mann had been told three or four years ago he'd be married to his partner and have two beautiful kids whom he adored, he would have scoffed. Marshall would have shook his head and rolled his eyes. For years, his heart ached for Mary and she had been so far away, waltzing around untrustworthy and bitter. Then, he met Abigail and he thought maybe that was his chance- to take her as a sign and move on and leave Mary groping in the darkness for another man to cruelly drag along.

She hadn't let that happen.

"_So you're engaged?_" Mary Shannon questioned taken aback, her brow furrowed with Norah in her grasp.

"_Yes, I am._" He had forced a smile just then, screaming inside as the hut flooded her face ash she adjust her little girl in her lap..

"_Jeez, Marshall. Are you sure about this? You haven't even been with her that long- don't you think this could be a mistake?"_

He had recoiled in hurt, but just tried to move along at her pace. "_I love Abigail, Mary. And we both think we're ready. She's sure this is the right move, so…"_

"_Do __**you **__think this is the right move?_" She asked in disbelief. "_You don't just rush into marrying someone. You think about it! You spend time with them. You barely know Law Enforcement Barbie!" _She spat, placing Norah carefully in her carrier and strapping her in.

"_Why does it matter to you?_" He had wondered angrily. "_You're supposed to be happy or me!" _

"_How can I be happy for you when-_" Mary screamed, realizing what she was about to admit.

"_When __**what**__?_"

"_Forget it!_" She had finished. "_See you tomorrow at work!_" And she had exited the eatery, quickly and angrily. He couldn't have been more confused. If anything, Mary would have feigned happiness, what had gone sour?

It wasn't until the next day that she had spoken to him again.

"_I don't think you should marry Abigail._" Mary said, leaning on his desk.

"_And why not?" _Marshall asked, eyebrows raised.

"_Because, I- Because I need you." _She shuddered.

"_Mary, I'm not going away." _

"_But, you will!"_ She groaned.

"_Mary, you'll always be my best friend." _He had tried to reassure, nodding in her direction as her heart climbed into his dry throat.

"_I don't want to be just your best friend!" _She had hollered.

"Here, let me take Lou. She needs to be changed." Mary switched babies, with no fuss from either one. Lou, having been burped and completely content, lay in her arms unaffected by the swap. Norah squirmed a tiny bit, but gave in as she realized it was only Marshall.

She held the child, smirking at the awake and unfussy little one. Marshall began cutting up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Norah, to keep her preoccupied as her mother took care of the tiniest one's business.

The blonde placed the baby on the changing table, removing her diaper and then calling out in surprise.

Marshall came running, leaving Norah safely in her high chair gnawing on her PB and J bits.

"What? What's wrong?!" He cried sliding into the room.

"She's pooped on me!" Mary moaned in disbelief. "Norah never pooped on me!" She continued, wiping at her arm wildly with a baby wipe.

Marshall couldn't help it. He was chuckling, hard and unstoppably. He was nearly crumpled to the floor when Mary shot him a glare that could stop a jester from jesting.

"It's not that funny! If I knew parenthood would mean getting bodily fluids in places they don't belong I would've….."

"You would've what?" He asked seriously, putting his hands on his hips but, still grinning playfully.

She looked at him, cocking her head to one side. "Nothing." She said surprised.  
"I wouldn't change anything."

_XXX_

_Six months later…_

"It feels good to sleep." Mary stretched, her hand resting on her chest as she looked over to Marshall, lying on his side to face her.

"Well, Norah's exhausted, she hyped herself up so much at her party last night she just passed out. And Lou, she didn't go down until well after midnight. Maybe they just know mom and dad haven't gotten rest in weeks…" He smiled.

"Weeks? More like months…" She smirked, pulling the sheets from her body. She checked the baby monitor. "Not a peep- You know…." Mary smiled deviously, "It _has_ been a _month_ since we last…" Mary threw her leg over his waist, straddling the skinny man, running her hands down his muscular stomach.

"So it has." Marshall Mann grinned, grabbing her and pulling her closer so he could feel her bare chest after he had slid her tank top off.

She took her mouth and ran her tongue up his neck and locked to his lips, releasing to take a breath. "I've missed this."

"Mhhmm." He replied, feeling her braced shoulder blades.

Mary was busying herself with his chest, so he took the liberty to do the same with hers. He grabbed her breasts in his paws and Mary recoiled. "Ouch!" She howled. "Easy Marshall, they're _attached!_" She mused, cringing as she pulled off his boxers.

"Sorry, Mare!" He apologized, kissing her over and over again, his fingers now pulling through her hair. "Your hair is so soft." He muttered between kisses.

"Yeah?" She asked uninterested, gulping as Marshall tickled her sides.

She gulped again. And one more time, but she couldn't shake the feeling. Marshall's brow furrowed. "Are you okay?" He wondered.

"Uh…" She swallowed, and clamped her hand over her mouth. "Just…." She took a deep breath. "Give me… A…. Second." Mary dropped back on her side of the bed, sitting up and slowly pressing her feet to the carpet.

"Mary?" He asked again. "What's wrong?"

"I think…" But she was gone, her arms crossed against her chest and her face nearly green as the door slammed to their bathroom. And then the screeches began from the baby monitor. Marshall didn't know which way to turn until she screamed for him to get the baby. A decisive woman, full of pride and motherly intuition would always pick the child—even if it was better sometimes to let a baby cry it out, Mary Shannon couldn't take the screams—at all.

Marshall grabbed the little girl. "Okay, Lou. Calm down. Don't wake your sister!" He begged.

And she only sniffled, snuggling into Marshall's uncovered shoulder. Marshall changed her, gently button her onesy up again and then he made his way back into their bedroom, knocking on the bathroom door. "Mary?"

"H-hold on!" She yelled, inhaling sharply. He heard a toilet flush and then a number of things could've been going on. He wasn't entirely sure.

"Mary, are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Just hold on a minute, Marshall! I'll be out in a moment!"

He sighed, moseying over to the bed and plopping down to wait. Marshall tickled Lou, listening to her laugh and waiting for Norah's yells, but they didn't come.

The door opened to the bathroom and Mary appeared, looking haggard and confused.

"You know…." She walked over to Marshall, something wrapped tightly in her hand.

"What?"

"In Hollywood, there's always that long, suspenseful and dramatic moment showing the passing of time while a California perfect lady waits for a test to turn positive."

"Positive? What are you talking about?" He scratched his head, setting Lou down to wander around the room.

"It's more similar to torture, Marshall." She stated, unwrapping her fingers from the object in her grip.

He looked down in disbelief.

"Wh—you're—

"I am. And it's all your fault." Mary growled as Marshall Mann stared down at the _plus_ in disbelief.

_**Thanks so much! I really hope you enjoyed, please check out my other stories!**_

_**I really appreciate you taking the time to read! And hope you liked the ending!**_


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